The Washington State Cougars begin spring practices this Saturday, as the year moves another day closer to Jimmy Rogers’ first season as head coach kicking off. In the meantime, there’s still plenty of time for those of us in the media to mull over the math and speculate what the new-look Cougars will achieve in the new year.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly, creator of the SP+ ratings system, posted the first rankings for the 2025 season on Thursday morning. Washington State are just outside the top half of FBS.
Washington State: #84 SP+:-5.4 , Offensive SP+: 30.3 (#40), Defensive SP+: 35.7 (#117), Special Teams SP+: -0.2 (#110)
In Connelly’s final SP+ ratings of the 2024 season, the Cougars finished at #68 with a rating of 1.3.
Thanks to a decent amount of Washington State’s skill position players returning on offense, including veterans Josh Meredith and Tre Shackleford, and several veteran additions from Rogers’ old team at South Dakota State, the Cougs receive their highest rating in the offensive category. The math is less optimistic about a defense that lost key leaders like Kyle Thornton (graduation), Taariq Al Uqdah (transfer), and Ansel Din-Mbuh (transfer) from a group that already allowed 442.6 yards per game.
As of now, seven of Washington State’s games on the 2025 schedule will be against teams with a higher SP+ ranking (two games against Oregon State).
Connelly noted he expects to update the rankings in May following the spring transfer portal window. That window opens on April 16 and closes on April 25.
2025 WSU Opponent Rankings/Ratings
Idaho: N/A
San Diego State: #109 SP+: -12.9 , Offensive SP+: 15.6 (#131), Defensive SP+: 28.5 (#76), Special Teams SP+: -0.1 (#93)
North Texas: #92 SP+: -6.7, Offensive SP+: 30.5 (#37), Defensive SP+: 37.3 (#123), Special Teams SP+: -0.1 (#91)
Washington: # 38 SP+: 7.3, Offensive SP+: 28.5 (#54), Defensive SP+: 21.2 (#29), Special Teams SP+: -0.2 (#121)
Colorado State: #100 SP+: -9.5, Offensive SP+: 23.8 (#96), Defensive SP+: 33.2 (#107), Special Teams SP+: -0.1 (#89)
Ole Miss: #9 SP+: 20.2, Offensive SP+: 34.5 (#19), Defensive SP+: 14.3 (#9), Special Teams SP+: 0.3 (#7)
Virginia: #82 SP+: -4.8, Offensive SP+: 24.3 (#91), Defensive SP+: 29.1 (#80), Special Teams SP+: 0.1 (#56)
Toledo: #75 SP+: -2.2, Offensive SP+: 26.2 (#75), Defensive SP+: 28.4 (#71), Special Teams SP+: -0.1 (#86)
Oregon State: #71 SP+: -1.3, Offensive SP+: 28.6 (#52), Defensive SP+: 29.9 (#85), Special Teams SP+: 0.0 (#67)
Louisiana Tech: #107 SP+: -12.7, Offensive SP+: 15.7 (#130), Defensive SP+: 28.4 (#72), Special Teams SP+: -0.1 (#98)
James Madison: #47 SP+: 4.0, Offensive SP+: 29.7 (#46), Defensive SP+: 25.7 (#51), Special Teams SP+: 0.1 (#53)
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