Washington State Heads to a Bowl Again - and That’s No Fluke
Don’t let the chaos of the last two years fool you - Washington State just keeps finding ways to win. With their emphatic victory over Oregon State in the regular-season finale, the Cougars secured bowl eligibility once again, marking their ninth postseason appearance in the last 10 non-COVID seasons. That’s not just consistency - that’s a program that refuses to fold, no matter the hand it’s dealt.
And make no mistake, the deck hasn’t exactly been stacked in their favor.
Over the past decade, Washington State has weathered just about every storm a college football program can face: coaching turnover, quarterback changes, budget challenges, and a conference collapse that left them in limbo. Yet here they are again, bowl-bound, while some of the Pac-12’s more glamorous programs are staying home.
A Decade of Grit
The Cougars’ postseason streak started back in 2015, when Mike Leach guided them to the Sun Bowl in his fourth year on the Palouse. That kicked off a run of four straight bowl appearances under Leach. Then came 2020 - a season derailed by COVID-19, as it was for everyone - and a brief pause in the streak.
But even in the middle of that chaos, WSU stayed competitive. In 2021, despite the midseason firing of head coach Nick Rolovich due to his refusal to comply with Washington’s vaccine mandate, interim coach Jake Dickert stepped in, rallied the team to an Apple Cup win, and earned a postseason trip to the Sun Bowl. That performance earned Dickert the full-time job, and he followed it up with another bowl appearance in 2022.
They just missed the mark in 2023, falling short by a single game after three November heartbreakers - all decided by a field goal - against Stanford, Cal, and Washington.
But in 2024, even in the first of two seasons as a program without a conference, the Cougars found their way back to the postseason. And now, in 2025, they’ve done it again.
New Coach, New QB, Same Fight
This season brought another round of changes. Dickert moved on to Wake Forest. In came Jimmy Rogers from South Dakota State, tasked with keeping the Cougars competitive in a year where the schedule looked more like an Independent’s gauntlet than a traditional Power Five slate.
Quarterback John Mateer transferred to Oklahoma, and the Cougars had to navigate a brutal schedule that included eight bowl-eligible opponents and three long road trips into the Eastern and Central time zones.
And yet, Washington State hung in there.
They lost by just three at Mississippi, two at Virginia, and four at James Madison. Those three teams?
A combined 32-4. The Rebels are playoff-bound, the Cavaliers are in the conversation, and the Dukes are right there in the mix.
That’s a nine-point margin across three losses to elite competition - road games, no less.
It’s the kind of resume that doesn’t always show up in the win column but says a lot about the toughness and resilience of a team.
Where They’re Headed
As for the Cougars’ bowl destination, nothing’s official yet. But with eight of the 12 legacy Pac-12 teams eligible and Oregon expected to land in the College Football Playoff, Washington State is likely to fall into the ESPN bowl pool.
That means potential matchups in the Gasparilla Bowl in Florida, the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, or the First Responder Bowl in Dallas. Either of the Texas games would offer valuable recruiting exposure in a critical region, while all three would give the program a national platform and a few extra weeks of practice - a huge plus for a team building under a first-year head coach.
A Foundation to Build On
There were missteps this season, no question. The Cougars took too long to lock in Zevi Eckhaus as the starting quarterback.
They had a rough showing at Oregon State. And they let a few golden upset chances slip away late in games.
But for a team that faced as much transition and adversity as Washington State did, this season still counts as a win. Rogers and his staff, especially defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, kept the team competitive and focused. They’re heading into the offseason with momentum, a bowl game on the horizon, and a foundation to build on.
In a year where plenty of programs with more resources and fewer road miles are watching bowl season from the couch, Washington State is still standing.
And that’s no accident.
This is a program that’s made a habit of punching above its weight. While others are still figuring out how to navigate the post-Pac-12 landscape, the Cougars are already back in the postseason - again.