A Saturday morning post from WSU
COUGARS
It doesn't feel like a Saturday in November. More like one in late December or January. It feels like we should be heading indoors for a basketball game, maybe one with Arizona in town and Sean Miller opining about how hard it is to get to Pullman. Read on.
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• Washington State: The Cougar basketball team leaves town today, headed to Portland for their game Sunday night with the Pilots then on to Southern California. How I wish I could be joining them – sunshine, friends and yes, In-N-Out – instead of wading through the snow to old Martin Stadium today. And yes, we'll be wading. It's pretty deep out there and getting deeper. Too bad today's game isn't against Arizona so interim coach Tim Kish could opine about how hard it is to play in snow in Pullman. ... We've got a lot to get to, so let's quit wasting your time. There is our advance of today's game, centered round the seniors (and we also have this discussion with the fifth-year group). And we have the keys to victory. ... Besides that, we have our story on the approved changes to Martin Stadium, with Bill Moos' comments. Moos didn't want to talk yesterday – WSU is holding a press conference today – so we followed him to the Cougar Club luncheon downtown and got his comments. He also dropped in a little tidbit about the Apple Cup scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving next year. If you live on the West Side, why not make it a holiday vacation? Come over to Spokane, have Thanksgiving dinner at one of the many fine Spokane restaurants, spend Friday morning shopping, then cruise down to Pullman for the game. After that, a Saturday snowboarding, and then head home Sunday. It will only take a third mortgage to get it done. Rates are low. ... Freelancer Howie Stalwick has this senior-based advance in the News Tribune and the Times has this game matchup. ... Anyone see the flag today? What am I saying? The WSU flag flying is as dependable as these morning blog posts. More dependable, actually.
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• Around the Pac-12: ESPN.com's Ted Miller has his mailbag (talk about dependable) and explains what Oklahoma State's loss last night means to the Oregon Ducks and the Pac-12. ... Jon Wilner also delves into what the loss means to the conference. ... Washington: With Keith Price out (will he play next week?), expect a big dose of Chris Polk against the Beavers. But what happens if Sean Mannion shreds Nick Holt's defense? Just wondering. ... Oregon State: The Beavers know what's coming. ... Oregon: The BCS door has been opened a bit for the Ducks. They can open it wider today with a victory. ... California: Since losing to UCLA, the Bears have been running over people. ... Stanford: The Cardinal are looking ahead, not back. ... Colorado: Hard to see a Pistol bringing down a Buffalo, but it's possible in college football. ... Utah: The Utes are used to playing Cougars. ... USC: Today's game is a big deal for the Trojans. It's the closest thing they'll have to a bowl game, it may be for the "real" Pac-12 title and Matt Barkley gets another chance to make waves. ... UCLA: If the Bruins win their final two games, they go to the conference title game. ... Arizona State: This rivalry game isn't on the national radar, but it is on the state's. ... Arizona: A headline like this one doesn't bode well for Wildcats' chance in today's rivalry.
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• That's it for this morning. We'll be back, as usual, before the game with, hopefully, a bit of an injury update. Until then ...
