Bet Washington State Cougars – Cougars Lack Bite, No Reason To Fear Them In 2010

2009 Washington State Cougars Betting Recap

Betting on the Cougars has been an online betting death sentence over past few years, and last year was no exception as they were, in a word, awful (and that’s an understatement).  The year started with home losses to Stanford and Hawaii, but then they won 30-27 in overtime at home over SMU, which may have gotten hopes up a bit around Pullman.  The Cougars quickly came down to earth with back-to-back losses at then-No.12 USC and then No.16 Oregon, as they were trounced by a combined score of 79-12, and that pretty much took the wind out of Washington State’s sails for the rest of the campaign.  The Cougars fell 27-14 at home to Arizona State, then proceeded to give up 40 points or more for five straight games, falling at Cal, Notre Dame and Arizona, then at home to UCLA and Oregon State (to be fair, Notre Dame, Arizona and Oregon state were ranked at the time).  Finally, the Cougars were put out of their misery with a 30-0 rout at rival Washington in the “Apple Cup”.

Where to start with the Cougars?  They were 119th in the nation in offense, and 120th in defense.   Net punting (52nd) and punt returns (85th) were the only categories in which they ranked higher than 100th.  The Cougars had three quarterbacks throughout the season, but they spent most of their time running behind a porous line, and the ground game got no help.  Then there was the defense, who allowed 38.5 points per game.  This section isn’t even big enough to explain how pointless it was to bet on Washington State last year.

2010 Preview To Bet Washington State Cougars

If you think Washington State’s NCAA football betting odds are going to get better in 2010, think again.  Even though they lost just four players, two on either side of the ball, the Cougars still aren’t talented enough to compete in the Pac-10.  Jeff Tuel has the inside track on the starting quarterback job, but Marshall Lobbestael will also be counted on.  Jared Karstetter looks to be a promising wideout, but he has to get the ball more.  The main question though, is a line that can’t block for their quarterbacks or running backs.  If that can be even close to decent, the Cougars have a shot.  Defensively, the Cougars are more experienced, and end Travis Long looks like he’s going to be a good player, but again, the talent levels aren’t that high in Pullman.

The Cougars will kick off their season at Oklahoma State, while a visit from Montana State looks to be the only time when betting on Washington State won’t earn you a dirty look.  The Cougars then go to SMU, and we’re sure that the Mustangs will have last year’s loss in Pullman stuck in their heads.  Washington State then kicks off the Pac-10 portion of their schedule at home against USC, then they head to UCLA before welcoming Oregon and Arizona to town.  The Cougars then head out on the road for back-to-back games at Stanford and Arizona State before hosting Cal, and the season wraps up with a trip to Oregon State and a visit from Washington in another edition of the “Apple Cup”.  If the Cougars can get up for any game, this is it: they’ve beaten the Huskies at home in two of their last three meetings.

As we said, the Cougars may be favored at home against Montana State, and they may be less than a double-digit underdog at home against Washington, but other than that, it’s pointless to bet on the Cougars in 2010.  The players are a bit older now, but are they any good?  Paul Wulff is in his third year as head coach and he may need to at least show that the program is going up in order to save his job.  We would avoid betting on the Cougars at all costs in your sports betting book in 2010.