Washington State Football: 3 reasons Cougs did enough to make playoff

3. Oklahoma, Michigan had some close calls

We’ll start here with the way that head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines showed out against the Indiana Hoosiers. Michigan had some issues sealing the deal against an Indiana team that’s fighting for bowl eligibility. Indiana’s season is going to come down to rivalry week since it wasn’t able to pull off the upset of Michigan in Week 12.

However, Michigan looked better than the No. 6 ranked Oklahoma Sooners lately. In the past two weeks, Oklahoma was a missed extra point attempt away from losing Bedlam. The Kansas Jayhawks also stayed competitive with the Sooners last week. The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Kansas aren’t teams that should stay close with Oklahoma if it wants to prove it’s College Football Playoff-worthy.

Even the Georgia Bulldogs have a less desirable path to the playoff field, with a battle in the SEC Championship Game imminent. If Georgia loses to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the showdown for the SEC Title, its Playoff hopes are gone. Oklahoma and Georgia have some causes for concern. And, those are the only two teams blocking the Cougars from the top five.

While Washington State football’s complete body of work has some discrepancies compared to the likes of the Sooners and Wolverines, the recent slate favors the Cougars. A combined margin of victory over Colorado and Arizona of 100-35. Washington State is coming on at the right time to actually make some progress getting into the Playoff field.