Beyond Rose Bowl, Cougars’ Bowl Picture Muddy
With one week left in the regular season, college football’s bowl picture remains a mosaic. For the first time in three years, Washington State is part of the landscape.
In short, the 11th-ranked Cougars (9-1) need to defeat No. 17 Washington on Saturday for a reasonable shot at their first Rose Bowl since 1931.
If WSU loses to the Huskies and UCLA is upset by USC, the Cougars could slip beyond even the Aloha Bowl. That would be the worst-case scenario.
In that situation, Arizona State would go to the Rose Bowl by beating Arizona. Washington would be scooped up by the Cotton Bowl. The Sun Bowl would take UCLA.
The Aloha Bowl, which picks next, would then choose between the 9-2 Cougars and a 7-4 USC team. The Trojans would be appealing for several reasons, including the Los Angeles television market and direct airline access to Honolulu.
But the more likely result of a WSU loss would be a trip to the Sun or Aloha bowls.
The Cotton Bowl, which picks ahead of the Sun and Aloha bowls, would take an 8-3 Washington team over a 9-2 WSU team, according to Pac-10 and bowl sources.
If the Fiesta Bowl takes a Pac-10 team - in all likelihood, it would be Arizona State - the 9-2 Cougars could not slip past the Sun Bowl, which is obligated to take the Pac-10’s highest remaining team.
If the Fiesta Bowl does not take a Pac-10 team, and if UCLA and ASU win, a 9-2 WSU team would probably end up in the Aloha Bowl.
If WSU beats the Huskies, all of this becomes irrelevant.
Leaf goes to the extreme
Athletes are notorious for their superstitions, but WSU quarterback Ryan Leaf has taken things to another level. Leaf detailed the madness Tuesday during his weekly conference call with reporters.
“I don’t wear my chin-strap out for the first warmups, I don’t wear eye-black for the first warmups and I wear a different shirt for warmups,” Leaf said. “When I come back in, I put two new shirts on, put my eye-black on, put my chin-strap on, take my mouthpiece out.”
Before the rest of the team comes out, Leaf and receiver Chris Jackson always play catch with an NFL ball.
“It gets me in the mood of throwing spirals, because you always throw spirals with an NFL ball, period,” Leaf said. “It has no stripes on it, so you can’t tell if it’s a spiral or not, so it gets you in a good mindset.”
The only catch is actually a drop.
“CJ has to drop one pass,” Leaf said. “Sometimes we forget to, and right before we go in, I throw one to him and he just knocks it down.”
Before home games, Leaf and backup quarterback Steve Birnbaum work in a few light sets on the bench press. Once inside Martin Stadium, Leaf makes sure he touches the end-zone pylon three times.
Then comes the matter of apparel. Leaf wears an old shirt from high school under his No. 16 jersey. The shirt reads “Air Assault” - the moniker Leaf and his Russell (Mont.) High School receivers adopted years ago.
“Oh, and I have to see my family in the stands before my first play,” Leaf added. “It’s terrible when we play in 70,000-seat stadiums - when I put my hand up and wave, all of a sudden 5,000 people are waving back.”
The rituals don’t end once the game begins. After extra points, Leaf always looks for offensive lineman Ryan McShane.
“I’ve got to jump on his back when we walk back after we kick the extra point, patting him on the head,” Leaf said. “He likes that.”
Birnbaum has tried in vain to talk Leaf out of his superstitions. “He told me it’s a disease,” Leaf said. “He’s read a book on it. He says, ‘Ryan you’ve got to quit this or it’s going to kill you’.”
, DataTimes