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Washington State was picked fifth in the pre-season Pac-10 conference poll. They were even classified by some as a sleeper pick for the national championship, with Alex Brink at the helm. They opened with three non-conference wins in September, but the results were different in league play. In the Pac-10 opener at Oregon State, Brink passed for over 500 yards, but WSU lost by eleven.
The Cougars lost their next three games (Stanford, UCLA, Cal), by a combined ten points; their inability to close out games cost them. After a blowout loss in Los Angeles to top-ranked USC, three-point setbacks at home to Arizona State and #11 Oregon followed, as the conference losing streak extended to seven games. In the Apple Cup at Seattle, they defeated struggling rival Washington by four points to finish at 4–7 overall.