Feb. 11—PULLMAN — Washington State’s first schedule in the rebuilt Pac-12 is here, and the Cougars’ lineup looks like none other in program history.
WSU’s season-opener will be a road matchup against rival Washington on Sept. 5, which will be the third installment of a five-year nonconference extension of the Apple Cup. The Cougs will also visit Kansas State for the teams’ first meeting, and they’ll host a game against Duquese and a game against former conference foe Arizona.
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Those games were previously reported. What’s new is the new Pac-12 schedules, which were released Wednesday evening, giving each team seven conference games and one FLEX game, which is designed to set up the conference’s top teams in the Dec. 4 championship game — thus giving the conference the best chance of making the College Football Playoff.
In new head coach Kirby Moore’s debut season, WSU’s home games include Sept. 5 against Washington, Sept. 19 against Duquesne, Sept. 26 against Arizona, Oct. 3 against Fresno State, Oct. 24 against Boise State, Nov. 14 against Colorado State and Nov. 28 against Oregon State, if that game comes to fruition.
The Cougars’ road games will be Sept. 12 at K-State, Oct. 10 at Utah State, Oct. 17 at Oregon State, Oct. 31 at San Diego State and Nov. 21 at Texas State.
WSU will have one bye week, which is set for Nov. 7.
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Here’s the idea behind the FLEX week: The conference wants to set up its top teams in the title game. This would give the conference the best chance of making the College Football Playoff, which gives a spot to the highest-ranked conference champion from outside the Power 4 ranks. So while WSU is projected to face Oregon State in the FLEX week, that could change if the conference feels neither would make the CFP by winning the conference title game.
The FLEX game will not count as a conference game.
It’s also important to note that the Pac-12 doesn’t want FLEX matchups to be a repeat of previous games. So the conference would schedule around that as well.
It’ll be a fall of firsts for the Cougars, who will be clashing with the Bobcats for the first time in San Marcos. This will also be the first meeting in history between WSU and Kansas State, a Big 12 club that competes in Manhattan, Kansas. Plus, the Cougars haven’t hosted the Broncos since 2017, which is when the late Tyler Hilinski came off the bench to lead a wild triple-overtime comeback win.
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There are also interesting wrinkles. When the Cougars take on Boise State, it’ll be a reunion for current offensive coordinator Matt Moore, who last coached with the Broncos. And when WSU meets Oregon State, it’ll be a full-circle experience for defensive coordinator Trent Bray, a longtime Beaver who worked as the program’s head coach in 2024 and part of 2025 before getting fired after an 0-7 start.
Washington State has recent experience against Fresno State, earning a 25-17 road win in 2024, but the teams haven’t played in Pullman since 1994, when the Cougs completed a 24-3 victory.
Here is WSU’s full 2026 schedule:
—Sept. 5 at Washington.
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—Sept. 12 at K-State.
—Sept. 19 vs. Duquesne.
—Sept. 26 vs. Arizona.
—Oct. 3 vs. Fresno State.
—Oct. 10 at Utah State.
—Oct. 17 at Oregon State.
—Oct. 24 vs. Boise State.
—Oct. 31 at San Diego State.
—Nov. 14 vs. Colorado State.
—Nov. 21 at Texas State.
—Nov. 28 FLEX.
