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Washington State drops to No. 21 in Associated Press Top 25 poll after being thumped in Apple Cup

Washington State Cougars quarterback Luke Falk (4) reacts from the bench after throwing his first interception against Washington during the first half of the 2017 Apple Cup on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017, at Husky Stadium in Seattle. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

SEATTLE – The Washington State Cougars experienced another pitfall in the Associated Press top 25 rankings and dropped seven spots to No. 21 when the poll was released Sunday morning.

The Cougars ended the regular season with a 41-14 loss to Washington in Saturday’s Apple Cup. It marked the fifth straight loss for WSU in the annual rivalry game and each of those have come by double digits. The Cougars also fell seven spots to No. 22 in the Amway Coaches Poll.

UW rose in the AP Top 25, but not nearly as much as the Cougars fell. The Huskies jumped two spots to No. 13.

The Cougars squandered an opportunity to book a spot in Friday’s Pac-12 Championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara by losing in the Apple Cup. Instead, Stanford will represent the Pac-12 North and the Cardinal will go in with some good momentum. They rocketed up the AP Top 25, moving up six places to No. 14 after upsetting then No. 8 Notre Dame 38-20 on Saturday in Palo Alto.

USC, which was on a bye week, stayed put at No. 11. The Trojans will represent the South in Friday’s all-California conference title game.

The top five looked drastically different after No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Miami suffered their first losses over the weekend. Clemson’s now the nation’s top-ranked team, followed by No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Auburn and No. 5 Alabama.