What The College Football Playoff Committee Said About Ranking Washington State #21

Joe Londergan | Nov 5, 2024

Sep 7, 2024; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jake Dickert, center, celebrates with his team after a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Washington State Cougars won 37-16. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

On Tuesday night, the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season were released, featuring the Washington State Cougars at #21. This marked Washington State's first inclusion in the CFP rankings since the 2018 season, where the Cougs reached as high as #8 and finished at #13.

Michigan Athletic Director and CFP Selection Committee Chair Warde Manuel praised the Cougars for their strong resume after eight games and a 7-1 start.

"We looked at them in terms of what they've done this season," Manuel said, explaining the committee's ranking of the Cougs. "Their only loss was to Boise State, who's ranked 12th, and they have four wins against teams above .500, but the best win was their win over Washington 24-19. While they're playing consistent football, offense is putting up 38 points per game, we still felt as the deliberations occurred that at the present time the committee ranked them based on their body of work at 21 with a lot of football obviously left to play, and we'll continue to monitor what all of these teams do as we progress during the season."

WSU have four games left this regular season, starting with the Utah State Aggies on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT. Given the current state of the Pac-12, WSU are not eligible for a conference championship or a first round bye in the playoff.

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