Washington State football coach Jake Dickert's reaction to first CFP ranking
In their first season in the rather empty Pac-12, the Washington State football team has performed well. The Cougars are 7-1 and appear to have a chance at becoming one of the teams in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff , which head coach Jake Dickert is pleased with.
Last night, the CFP committee released its first set of rankings this season. In them, Washington State sits at No. 21, ahead of Louisville, Clemson, Missouri, and undefeated Army. Afterward, Dickert commented on his team's place in the rankings.
"It's a great starting point," Dickert told The Athletic. "We have a long journey ahead. It's cool momentum for our program in recruiting and it shows our players that hard work pays off."
Washington State football eyeing first College Football Playoff berth
Dickert, who is in his fourth season in Pullman, has never led Washington State to more than seven wins, a mark the Wazzu football program has also not surpassed since 2018. But with four games remaining, none of which are against teams currently with winning records, it appears the Cougars have a very realistic path to go 11-1 and possibly into the CFP for the first time.
After nearly a decade of a four-team playoff, the CFP expanded to 12 teams starting this season, in theory increasing the chances of a program like Washington State making a playoff appearance. Previously, the Cougars rose as high as eighth in 2018, when they finished with a 11-2 record and 13th in the final CFP rankings.
If Washington State can finish the year 11-1, with the only loss coming against Boise State (which is No. 12 in the CFP rankings), it is not without reason to believe the Cougars will fall somewhere in the Nos. 5 to 12 range, which would place them in a first-round playoff match. The team certainly needs some help, some of which will naturally occur, to get there, though.
Firstly, nine teams stand between Wazzu and becoming the 12th seed. Either LSU or Alabama will earn their third loss of the season this weekend when the pair of SEC teams play each other. It is also more likely than not that No. 14 Texas A&M will catch its third loss in its season finale to No. 5 Texas in a few weeks.
Additionally, there can only be one Big 12 champion, which could lead the playoff committee to bump one or multiple of BYU , Iowa State, Kansas State, and Colorado when they come up empty-handed. The same can be said for Ole Miss, which has two losses and plays Georgia this weekend, as well as Pitt, which now needs some help to reach the ACC Championship Game after losing to SMU.
Even if the team finishes 11-1, though, Washington State's strength of schedule could prove costly. Only one opponent — Boise State — was at the time or currently ranked. Texas Tech and Washington could help matters if they can continue to win, although it is more likely that both will pick up at least one more loss before the end of the regular season.
Regardless of all of that, the most important thing for the Cougars remains how well they play on the field. If the team loses one of its final four games, Wazzu's playoff hopes are certainly dead.
Next up is Utah State (2-6). After that, the Cougars will play at New Mexico (3-6) and Oregon State (4-4) before returning to Pullman for their regular-season finale against Wyoming (2-7).
