Washington State moves up to No. 18 in Associated Press Top 25 poll

PULLMAN – Washington State is unbeaten through three games for the first time since 2005 and moved up three spots to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars (3-0, 1-0) were also ranked No. 18 in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll, jumping four spots from last week.

WSU beat Oregon State 52-23 in Saturday’s Pac-12 opener at Martin Stadium and received 419 votes in the AP poll. The Cougars have been ranked every week this season after debuting at No. 24 – just the third time in school history they opened the year as a Top 25 team.

Of the Pac-12 teams in last week’s AP poll, WSU was the only one to move up. USC dropped one place to No. 5 after edging Texas in overtime and Washington dropped one spot to No. 7 despite a dominant win over Fresno State. Stanford lost to San Diego State Saturday night and dropped out of the poll after checking in at No. 19 last week, and No. 25 UCLA’s loss to Memphis cost the Bruins their ranking.

Utah and Oregon, both 3-0, entered the Top 25 rankings this week, at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively, to give the Pac-12 five ranked teams.

Alabama kept its No. 1 ranking, but Clemson overtook Oklahoma for No. 2 after defeating Louisville on Saturday. Oklahoma fell to No. 3 and Penn State traded places with USC, assuming No. 4.

WSU hosts Nevada (0-3, 0-2) next Saturday in its final nonconference game at 3 p.m. The Wolf Pack were upset 30-28 by Idaho State on Saturday.