Podcast Vs. Everyone - For Washington State Cougars fans

BEST. WEEK. EVER?!? (Episode 205)

Since last week’s episode — which came on the heels of UW’s loss to Michigan in the CFP championship and WSU’s men’s basketball win over USC a couple of days later — Washington has lost its football coach, the Cougs beat No. 8 Arizona in men’s basketball, the women beat UW at Hec Ed, and the Huskies hired a marginally successful coach away from Arizona to fill its vacancy as an unprecedented number of their players announced their intentions to depart the program.
We had a hard time remembering a more fun and satisfying week than this one.
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A massive, massive victory! (Episode 204)

Washington State entered Wednesday’s game at USC teetering on the brink of irrelevancy. The Cougars were staring down 1-4 in the conference with Arizona on deck.
But as he has done so many times in his tenure as the head men’s basketball coach, Kyle Smith cooked up something special and WSU improved to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12 with a 72-64 victory over the Trojans in what might have been WSU’s final visit to the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
That win — powered by Isaac Jones’ monster night with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists — had us riding high through the first segment of this week’s show.
Other topics of discussion
Women’s basketball: An 0-3 start in Pac-12 play is not what anyone had envisioned, but also … this conference is no joke — four teams ranked in the AP top 10, a whopping 10 teams ranked in the top 60 of NET. So, while there’s no shame in losing any of these games, WSU needs to start getting some wins. They’ll try to exact some revenge on the Huskies on Sunday at Hec Ed.
Beer: Jeff — Colita de Rana (Stoup + Varietal + Loza Farms); Craig — Triple B’s (E9).
CFP Championship: Oh my goodness, did we love Michigan’s win over Washington.
Notes
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A deal with the devil (Episode 203)

It’s Apple Cup week!!!!!!
Can’t you feel the excitement?????
There are always a lot of complex emotions wrapped up in this game, but this year they’re amplified by the end of the Pac-12 conference, Washington’s role in that, and the announcement this week that the Apple Cup will continue for the foreseeable future.
Washington is playing to keep their CFP hopes alive, while the Cougs are playing for bowl eligibility. There are a lot of reasons to think that WSU can play well enough to win — and that UW could play poorly enough to lose — but … we have a lot of recent history in this game to suggest that it won’t be close.
That said … beating Colorado in the fashion in which the Cougs did might give us a little more hope than we otherwise might have for a road game against a top 5 team.
How are you feeling about it?
Other topics of discussion:
* Beer: Jeff — Fresh Catch (Block 15); Craig — A Deal With The Devil (Anchorage)
* Men’s basketball: The Cougs split a pair of games, losing to Mississippi St. then beating Rhode Island. We learned a lot in these two games, the vast majority of it positive!
* Women’s basketball: The Cougs are still undefeated. Now they’re in Cancun, Mexico, for a tournament.
* Volleyball: Winning in five sets against ASU wasn’t exactly how it was planned, but a win is a win and now WSU sets its sights on Washington on Friday.
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WSU finally gets a big win (Episode 202)

Wins have been hard to come by these days for WSU, but the Cougs got a huge one on Tuesday when a judge ruled that Washington State and Oregon State — alone — will govern the Pac-whatever out of this phase and into the next one.Craig watched the whole thing, and we’ve got lots of thoughts on what the decision means for the future of WSU, and the conference as a whole. How are you feeling about it?Other topics of discussion:* Football: Everything still sucks. Maybe they can beat Colorado on Friday?* Beer: Jeff — Fresh Hop Lateral A (Single Hill); Craig — Chamomile tea. (For real.)* Men’s basketball: Off to a 2-0 start, the Cougs face a big measuring stick contest against Mississippi State on Saturday morning.* Women’s basketball: The Cougs are 4-0 after their busy early schedule, but … should we be a little bit worried about Charlisse Leger-Walker?* Volleyball: The Cougs needed a big win, and they got one over USC last weekend.Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify Thanks for reading Podcast Vs. Everyone! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com

Thank god it’s basketball season (Episode 201)

As you all are extremely well aware, the last month of WSU sports hasn’t exactly been a whole lot of fun.Enter basketball!The men’s and women’s teams tipped off their seasons on Monday, and each of them delivered a resounding victory in Beasley Coliseum: The 24th-ranked women first defeating Cal Poly (78-61), then the men dispatching Idaho (84-59).Look, nobody is saying that either of these outcomes guarantee enormous things for either team — both contests certainly had that “first-game vibe” that everyone is familiar with, and both opponents were decidedly overmatched.We’re just saying that it was incredibly nice to start our weeks by enjoying a couple of Cougar victories on a Monday evening with nothing bad happening in the time between that and when we recorded.Other topics of discussion:* Beer: Jeff — Fresh Hop Fiend (Stoup); Craig — Vanilla Deth (Revolution).* Football: Everything sucks.* Soccer: They lost to Washington to end the season. Jeff was there. It was dreadful.* Volleyball: Things are looking up(?) after sweeping Cal. There’s still a big chance to finish the season strong.* NIL: Jake Dickert said something that riled people up. Maybe it riled you up. It did not rile us up.Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com

What’s *really* behind football’s nosedive? (Episode 200)

How on earth did things get this bad?From ranked No. 13 in the AP poll to the wrong end of a four-game skid that threatens bowl eligibility, things are very bad with WSU’s football team. And when we look around Pullman, things aren’t much better — volleyball has dropped three of four in a fashion that we didn’t even imagine was possible, and soccer has just one win in its last six.In the last two weeks, the Big Three fall sports have combined for one win — ONE! — in 10 combined games.It’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder if maybe the problems run deeper than the things that normally plague college teams. Like … maybe it has something to do with the state (or lack thereof) of the Cougs’ conference affiliation going forward?Other topics of discussion:* Football: Recapping ASU and previewing Stanford. How on earth are the Cougs double-digit favorites over anyone in the conference at this point?* Beer: Jeff — Hearts & Bines (Varietal); Craig — Juicy Bits (Weldworks).* Basketball! The women and men each tip off their seasons on Monday. What’s in store?Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com

A spectacularly craptastic weekend (Episode 199)

Well, that could hardly have gone worse!No. 13 WSU football traveled to Los Angeles and lost to UCLA. No. 4 volleyball hosted No. 3 Stanford and lost. Soccer went to Tempe and got pummeled by Arizona State, 5-1.And yet, even in the wake of these disappointing results, we find ourselves encouraged by many aspects of the performances turned in, particularly as it pertains to football and volleyball.Craig’s got the week off, so let’s discuss all this and more — with special guest Zane Murfitt!Other topics of discussion:* Beer. Jeff: Fresh Hop Gorgeous IPA (Rueben’s Brews). Zane: Johnny Utah (Georgetown).* Volleyball dropped a heartbreaker to No. 3 Stanford. * WSU soccer started its weekend with a nice comeback win over Arizona, but then crashed hard on Sunday.Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com

Everyone loves the Cougs ... except ESPN Gameday(??) (Episode 198)

WSU football has soared to No. 13 in the AP poll after beating then-No. 14 Oregon State 38-35, followed by watching the Beavers easily hand then-No. 10 Utah a humbling 21-7 defeat the next week.Just how good have the Cougars been in this opening four-game stretch? They currently rank sixth in ESPN.com’s “resumé” metric, sitting one spot ahead of Georgia, the defending national champs and No. 1 team in the AP poll.In short, WSU has been about as good as a team who has played their schedule can be.But now they head out on the road for a stiff test at UCLA, where the Bruins have entered some sort of a bizarro world: A Chip Kelley-coached team that is defense forward. UCLA is a 3.5-point favorite in most places, so the game figures to be tight. We break it down.Other topics of discussion:* Pat McAfee is an asshole, and College Gameday’s attitude toward WSU right now is repulsive.* Volleyball is up to No. 4(!!) in the rankings. After what should be a tune-up against Cal on Friday, the main event awaits on Sunday: No. 3 Stanford in Bohler Gym. As near as we can tell, it’s the lowest combined ranking for any WSU game … ever.* Beer. Jeff: Boss Pour (Abnormal). Craig: Flowers of the Sky (Bizarre).* WSU soccer hit the skids against some really talented teams. Cause for concern or just a run of bad luck against highly ranked opponents?Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com

WSU’s revenge tour storms through the Big 12 (Episode 197)

If you haven’t been paying attention to WSU volleyball, it’s time for you to start. Because folks, this is not an exaggeration: We have a legitimate national championship contender on our hands in Pullman.It’s tough to properly contextualize what Jen Greeny’s squad accomplished in three matches over the span of eight days.Beating a top 10 team at home, as they did the night before the Cougs’ epic football win over Wisconsin by dispatching No . 8 BYU? It’s rare, but they’ve done that sort of thing before.Beating a top 20 team on the road, as they did last Wednesday at No. 18 Baylor? They’ve done that too, but again … not real often.Beating another top 10 team — this time on the road! — as they did last Friday at No. 6 (and defending national champ) Texas?And dropping only three sets combined between the three matches?This is something else altogether. About the closest analogue we could come up with was the 1997 football team that spent most of its season inside the top 10 and only had its national championship hopes derailed by a close road loss to Arizona State. And while this team isn’t quite getting the attention that one did (for reasons that we all understand), they’re on that same level.This is worthy of celebration. So that’s where we start on this week’s podcast.Other topics of discussion:* Of note: Volleyball’s next match is Thursday when they host Washington. If you can’t get to Pullman, the game will be on Pac-12 Network at 7 p.m. PT.* No, the Cougs didn’t #Drop70 against Northern Colorado, but they definitely had their way with the FCS Bears, who were overmatched from the jump. Nine touchdowns on the first nine drives of the game shows the mentality that Jake Dickert has cultivated on his squad.* Oregon State comes to town on Saturday in a rare matchup of Top 25 teams in the series. The Beavers also are favored. Let’s break down what the Cougs will need to do to emerge with a Pac-2 title.* Beer. Jeff: Dr. Lupulin (Revision). Craig: Happy Hops IPA (Russian River).* Soccer picked up another win! This time over Seattle U. Now they’ve got a huge matchup on Friday, hosting No. 2 Stanford. Can these Cougs do their part on the Cougs Vs. Everybody revenge tour?Podcast music by Randy England. You can find more of his work on Instagram.You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast services:* iTunes * Google Play * Spotify  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcastvseveryone.substack.com