Cougs’ bowl possibilities many

There has been a lot of speculation going on over where the Cougars will be headed for a bowl game, or if they’ll be bowling at all. Jerry Palm’s updated bowl projections have WSU staying home for the holidays, while Mark Schlabach and Brad Edwards’ pre-Apple Cup projections have the Cougars playing in the Poinsettia Bowl and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, respectively. Syracuse won today and became bowl-eligible, which hurt the Cougars, but North Carolina losing helped. Here’s a look at some of WSU’s most likely destinations:

New Mexico Bowl: Picks seventh out of the Pac-12’s bowl affiliated teams, and it will have quite a choice on its hands with Oregon State, Washington State and Arizona all vying for a spot.

Heart of Dallas Bowl: With Auburn knocking off No. 1 Alabama on Saturday, the Big Ten could send Ohio State to the BCS championship game and Michigan State to the Rose Bowl. If that were to happen, the Heart of Dallas bowl would need to find an at-large team to fill its spot. The Big Ten already has an extra slot available since Penn State is ineligible.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl: The Big 12 won’t be able to fill it’s bowl slots this season, meaning the Cougars could be spending Christmas in New York. This is a bowl that athletic director Bill Moos would likely fight hard to secure, as its $1.8 million payout is quite a bit higher than most bowls WSU will have a shot at.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl: The sixth bid for the American Athletic Conference will need an at-large team to fill the conference’s slot. The Cougars are trying to make inroads in Florida, and what better way than by having the whole team spend a week.