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Washington State finishes season No. 10 in Associated Press Top 25 poll, Washington comes in at No. 13

Washington State Cougars wide receiver Dezmon Patmon (12) reacts with Washington State Cougars wide receiver Easop Winston (8) after Patmon scored a touchdown during the first half of the 2018 Alamo Bowl on Friday, December 28, 2018, at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, TX. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

PULLMAN – The winningest season in Washington State history was capped by a top-10 finish in the last edition of the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Hours after Clemson beat Alabama in the national championship, the Cougars, who closed out the season with a 28-26 win over Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl, moved up two spots and checked in at No. 10 in the final Top 25 rankings. WSU and No. 7 Florida were the only teams to open the season unranked and finish inside the top-10 of the AP poll.

Cross-state rival Washington fell to No. 13 in the poll after suffering a 28-23 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

The two Evergreen State teams both finished inside the top-15, but they were also the only Pac-12 representatives in the poll. Other Pac-12 teams that received votes in the poll included Stanford (52), Utah (43) and Oregon (11).

It’s the first time in history WSU finished as the poll’s top-ranked team, according to the AP’s Josh Dubow, and not since 2010 have there been just two Pac-12 teams ranked in the final edition of the Top 25.

By comparison, the Mountain West Conference had three teams ranked in the poll: No. 18 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah State and No. 23 Boise State.

Clemson topped the final AP poll after routing Alabama 44-16 in Thursday’s title game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Rounding out the top-10 were the No. 2 Crimson Tide, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Georgia, No. 7 Florida, No. 9 Texas and No. 10 WSU.