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Washington State climbs to highest 2018 ranking in Associated Press Top 25 poll

By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

PULLMAN – Friday’s Apple Cup will be a clash of the country’s seventh- and 16th-ranked college football teams.

A day after dispatching Arizona 69-28 at Martin Stadium, Washington State (10-1, 7-1) moved up one spot to No. 7 in the newest edition of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings. It’s the highest AP ranking of the season for the Cougars.

Washington (8-3, 7-2) routed Oregon State 42-23 in Seattle on Saturday and moved up one spot to No. 16.

The Cougars and Huskies, who respectively are No. 8 and No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will meet in the 111th Apple Cup on Friday in Pullman. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on Fox. The Huskies have won five in a row in the rivalry series.

It’ll be the third consecutive season the winner of the Apple Cup decides which team will represent the Pac-12 North in the conference championship game in Santa Clara, California. Utah will represent the South Division.

Utah was the only other Pac-12 team to appear in Sunday’s edition of the Top 25 rankings. The Utes clinched the South Division title on Saturday with their 30-7 win over Colorado and Oregon’s victory over Arizona State. They jumped three places from No. 21 to No. 18.

In the Amway Coaches’ Poll, the Cougars moved up two places to No. 7 – their highest ranking of the year. The Huskies jumped one place to No. 16 and the Utes moved up two spots to No. 17.

The top six of the AP Top 25 went unchanged on Sunday. Alabama still sits at No. 1, followed by Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgia and Oklahoma. Right behind WSU are No. 8 UCF, No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Ohio State.