AP Top 25 Extra Points: Washington State’s season debut ranks No. 22 in Pride for Pac-12 poll

Washington State is the pride of the Pac-12 this week.

There really wasn’t much to celebrate in the old “Conference of Champions” since the mass defection left only WSU and Oregon State. Those two will remain together until five recently announced schools – and hopefully a sixth – join what will be one reconstituted football league in 2026.

Until then, the Pac-12 will get all the glory it can get. Right now, that’s Washington State’s season debut The Associated Press Poll.

The Cougars are No. 22 after them 29-26 win at San Diego State and 7-1 for the first time since the 2018 Mike Leach-Gardner Minshew team started 10-1 and finished 11-2.

Jack Dickert’s team is led by sophomore quarterback John Mateer, who brought the Cougars back from a 26-14 deficit with 13 minutes left against the Aztecs and also led fourth-quarter comebacks to beat San Jose State and Fresno State.

‘That’s why they give you 60 minutes. It’s the Cardiac Cougs,” Dickert said. “There is no let up on our football team. There is a lot of courage, a lot of heart, a lot of passion. That comes from within, that comes from the team, that comes from the leaders. There is no death. It was something, 14-26, right? And they came back and continued to believe. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again.”

Washington State will play eight Mountain West opponents and Oregon State will play seven as part of a one-year scheduling agreement with that conference. Oregon State has lost three straight games and is 4-4. The Cougars and Beavers had to put together 2025 schedules and will play each other twice in November.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State will leave the MWC to join the Pac-12 next season. Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference will join as a non-football member. In the meantime, the Pac-12 is looking to add an eighth football member so it can regain its status as a Football Bowl Subdivision league.

Dickert said his program can build for its future in the new Pac-12 by piling up wins this season and next.

“For recruitment, it just means Wazzu will stay here,” he said. “We have a strong brand on the West Coast. It resonates throughout the class. Obviously we let five of those (2026) teams in as equals, and that’s different. So you have to stay ahead of them. To stay ahead of them you have to invest more than they do. That is the most important thing we have to continue to do as Cougs.”

Checking in on five of the Top 25:

No. 3 Penn State

With the Nittany Lions’ top-five matchup with No. 4 Ohio State sure to be the talk of the week in college football, the status of quarterback Drew Allar will be receiving a lot of attention. Allar was sacked on Penn State’s final series of the first half and did not play in the second half of the game road win in Wisconsin. He was wearing a brace on his left knee. If Allar can’t go, it’s Beau Pribula’s show.

No. 6Texas

The Longhorns have an open date before hosting Florida. That begins a three-game stretch against unranked opponents before the regular-season finale against Texas A&M on the road. Texas has its fans worried. Some of the problems it had against Georgia showed up in the 27-24 win over Vanderbilt. Quinn Ewers converted his two interceptions into touchdowns, and the Longhorns had 10 penalties.

No. 15 Boise State

The Broncos cemented themselves as the favorites to clinch the Group of Five spot in the College Football Playoff 29-24 win at UNLV. National rushing leader Ashton Jeanty ran for a season-low 128 yards and the winning touchdown. The defense shined with six sacks, the third time in four games they had at least that many. The final sack, by Ahmed Hassanein and Herbert Gums, forced UNLV to punt with just over 8 minutes remaining, and the Rebels never got the ball back.

No. 20 SMU

The Mustangs enter their home showdown with No. 18 Pittsburgh on the heels of a wayward win over Duke. She won 28-27 in extra time but not before blocking Duke’s field goal attempt for the win at the end of regulation and forcing an incompletion of the Blue Devils’ 2-point pass for the victory in OT. They have also achieved six sales without takeaways.

No. 23 Colorado

The Buffaloes are bowl eligible for the first time since 2020 and are back in the Top 25 for the first time since they were ranked three weeks earlier last season. They have come a long way since their 28-10 loss to Nebraska in Week 2. The defense is giving up about 13 points and 90 yards less per game than a year ago, Shedeur Sanders has thrown for a Big 12 with 21 touchdowns. and two-time star Travis Hunter is a Heisman Trophy contender.

Extra points

Ohio State and Penn State have both been ranked in the last seven times they met. Saturday’s meeting will be the first since 1996 that both have been in the top five. …Pittsburgh and SMU meet for the seventh time and second in a Top 25 matchup. The first was in 1983, when No. 4 SMU defeated No. 6 Pitt 7-3. …Missouri remained in the rankings, dropping from No. 21 to No. 25 despite a 34-0 loss at Alabama and only 18 ballots. Vanderbilt appeared on 23 ballots, but went from No. 25 to the team that received the most votes among the unranked. Only three points separate the two, largely because five voters had the Tigers 21st or 22nd.

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