Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a great week.

Moments ago, the Pac-12 released the 2013 Cougar Football Schedule which is noted after the jump below.  One word describes it.  YIKES!!!!!

(read on)

Maples was rocking tonight.

For a time tonight, I had visions in my head of writing about a road win and about conference parity and about how maybe this team could somehow scratch out a mediocre conference season. A very late 14-0 Stanford run dashed those hopes and with about two minutes left, I pulled out my laptop and set out to write about another loss. The Cougs and Card looked like evenly matched teams and just prior to the Stanford run, the Cougs even looked superior with only some impressive, if borderline, ridiculous shooting by the home team keeping the good guys from being the team to pull away. Alas, the Wazzu shots stopped falling and the smart guys' just never did. The result was somehow a double digit loss to a team that, quite frankly, isn't very good. For more notes on yet another disappointing Bone Era performance, click on the jump. Then when you're done, leave some comments. We can all talk about it together, like a community and stuff.

A little sideline competition for Jake Rodgers' mullet?

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, former Missouri offensive coordinator David Yost is close to being the latest addition to Mike Leach's staff. Here are all the details/speculation/rumors etc.

Clearly I was the only Irishman prepared to put up a fight.

Yep, I rooted for Notre Dame. Pretty sure I’ve never done that before (even at the end of Rudy a part of me wanted him to get pancaked), and pretty sure I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. Basically after last year’s debacle I really wanted an entertaining National Championship game and I am SICK of the SEC. Unfortunately we all saw this coming. A Notre Dame team that struggled to handle juggernauts like Purdue, BYU and Pitt at home against a loaded Alabama team that just boat raced the SEC for a 2nd consecutive year? As finales go, this was a letdown. Once again we would have to endure an avalanche of SEC domination chatter and there was nothing that could stop it. (Something tells me that Clemson and Louisville aren’t as awe struck by the dominance of the SEC as all the talking heads on TV are.) Oh well, there I was, dressed like a drunk idiot on St. Paddy’s day (mostly to needle our host for the evening who is from Alabama) without nearly enough Guinness and Jameson to make the game interesting. But was this the worst championship offering of the BCS era?

To be fair, this year’s matchup was not entirely the BCS’s fault. Notre Dame, by going undefeated, may very well have found their way into the title game in a non-BCS year, but the BCS certainly didn’t help. In the end, a lot of things had to fall into place for this to happen. Not only did the Domers get the benefit of a very iffy call at the end of their overtime win over Stanford (clearly Stanford had scored a TD), but they also benefited from a string of ineptitudes from Pitt to eek out a triple overtime win over the Panthers. I guess the throttling they took last night was their destiny, or something. But how about Alabama? After the Tide fell to Texas A&M at home on November 10, it appeared the path was clear for Oregon and/or Kansas State to make their own run at the title with lurkers such as Florida and Georgia also given new life. But it all came crashing down a week later as both Oregon and Kansas State fell to conference foes vaulting Alabama back into the #2 spot. Lets just call November 17 “Black Saturday”, shall we? The result was a Championship Game that can best be summed up by this honest sentiment... I wish I had gone to Les Mis instead.

"I had a dream this game would be, so different from the game I'm seeing..."

As we enter 2013, the final year before we institute a playoff in 2014, lets take a look back at some of the other stinkers we have been forced to endure over the years. Since it’s kinda what we do here, lets rank the top three worst Championship games of the BCS era after the jump...

According the multiple reports, Mike Leach and staff have been cleared of all abuse allegations by the Pac-12.  Apparently, the report issued only three recommendations for improvement moving forward including monitoring the length of workouts as well as eliminating the water spraying stuff.

Personally, I'm not surprised.  A few days ago, Mastro turned down overtures to take over the Nevada job.  While part of his decision to not take that job may have reflected a wise choice to not being "the guy" to follow "the guy," his commitment to Leach hardly seemed like he was following the Pied Piper into the ocean...

In any event, all eyes now go to the replacement of two Assistant coaches as well as recruiting.  Indeed, the nightmare that was 2012 is now officially over.  Thank goodness.

All for now.  Go Cougs.

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a great week.

While last night’s overwhelming performance by Alabama put an end to the 2012 College Football season, we here at the WSU Football Blog have our eyes focused squarely on 2013.  For a few, deep thoughts –quick hit style—click on the jumperoo.

Happy Monday Cougs, and a much-belated Happy New Year to you and yours.  After some time off, it's time to climb back into the chair and get after it, Morning Drip style, so here we go.....

Hello Followers.  Hope you’ve had a great week.

Today, we take a few moments to tip our proverbial caps to our feathered friends to the South—especially their leader of men, Chip Kelly.  For more on that, as well as a few observations about the Cougs and the Pac-12 North in 2013, read on.

Pretend that's a Crimson W, okay???

Hello Followers.  Hope you had a great Holiday break.

Yesterday afternoon, I returned from a 1400 mile drive back to the New York State Compound from Miami, Florida.  

After removing about a foot of snow from my driveway, I sat down to catch a bit of last night’s Sugar Bowl action.  For a few quick Cougar-relevant reflections on that game as well as tonight’s Fiesta Bowl contest, read on..

Happy New Year to you, Followers.  Hope you're having a great Holiday week.

In case you didn't know, tonight marks the final SportsCenter apperance for WSU's very own, Cindy Brunson.

Cindy is moving to Arizona to follow her (DAMN HIM!) husband Steve Berthiaume who is now the play-by-play voice for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  So, while Cindy's next career move awaits, we can only suspect that she's moving on to greener pastures while making the oh-so loving sacrifice of helping her spouse fulfill his dreams.

So with that in mind, may this coming New Year be filled with renewed hopes and aspirations for you, my followers, as well as all of the great Cougar Nation. Perhaps this is the "year" that our bowl drought comes to an end? Or, perhaps this is the year where we can all have a bit more fun just being who we are.

Whatever the case, Congrats on fantastic career, Cindy B.  You've done us all proud. So, here's to you and yours smelling the Roses a bit in 2013.

All for now.  Go Cougs.