Washington State Football: Cougars hope to overcome tumultuous offseason
By Zach Bigalke
2018 Washington State Schedule and Predictions
| WEEK | DATE | SCHOOL | OPPONENT |
| 1 | Sep. 1, 2018 | Washington State | @ Wyoming |
| 2 | Sep. 8, 2018 | Washington State | vs. San Jose State |
| 3 | Sep. 15, 2018 | Washington State | vs. FCS Eastern Washington |
| 4 | Sep. 21, 2018 (FRI) | Washington State | @ USC |
| 5 | Sep. 29, 2018 | Washington State | vs. Utah |
| 6 | Oct. 6, 2018 | Washington State | @ Oregon State |
| 7 | Oct. 13, 2018 | BYE | WEEK |
| 8 | Oct. 20, 2018 | Washington State | vs. Oregon |
| 9 | Oct. 27, 2018 | Washington State | @ Stanford |
| 10 | Nov. 3, 2018 | Washington State | vs. California |
| 11 | Nov. 10, 2018 | Washington State | @ Colorado |
| 12 | Nov. 17, 2018 | Washington State | vs. Arizona |
| 13 | Nov. 23, 2018 (FRI) | Washington State | vs. Washington |
Washington State gets to open the 2018 season with a trio of non-conference games that allows them to ease into the new year. The Cougars open the season with a Labor Day weekend trip to Laramie. There Washington State will face a Wyoming team facing its own questions at quarterback. Then they return home for contests against San Jose State and FCS Eastern Washington.
The Cougars should be 3-0 heading into Pac-12 play, which opens right out of the gate with a trip to Los Angeles to face defending champion USC. A home game against Utah and a road game in Corvallis against Oregon State put Washington State in position to be anywhere between 4-2 and 6-0 heading into their bye week.
Coming out of the break, the schedule offers up four home games. The two road trips to Stanford and Colorado will be challenging. And home-field advantage will only go so far in home games against Oregon, California, Arizona, and Washington.
What’s next for Washington State?
The Cougars head into the new season with a lot of question marks all around, on both sides of the ball. Washington State is dealing with flux on its coaching staff, but this is unlikely to be a year where Mike Leach enters the season on the hot seat. Cougars fans will have to deal with a bit of a backslide in the Pac-12 North standings as they adjust to growing pains. But a fourth straight bowl appearance is likely in the works.
Prediction: 7-5 (4-5 Pac-12)
The year will open with an illusory run of victories against overmatched opponents. A second straight upset of USC is unlikely, however, as the Trojans provide a rude awakening to open Pac-12 play. After three straight years of contention in the Pac-12 North, this is the year that Washington State returns to the middle of the pack.
Next: Post-spring Top 25 projections
They aren’t going to fade into obsolescence, but the gains of several other programs in the division will lead to the first sub-.500 record in league play in four years.