On Oct. 10, Mississippi State canceled its home-and-home series with WSU. Washington State had home-and-home football games scheduled with three schools: Toledo, Virginia and Mississippi State.
Out of those three universities, Mississippi State was the most fascinating as they are in the Southeastern Conference. WSU has not had an SEC opponent come to Pullman ever. In the current landscape of college football and the Pac-12, this would have been a big get.
The reason for the cancellation comes after the SEC decided on a new scheduling parameter: nine conference games beginning in 2026. Prior to this, it was only eight. With the extra conference game eliminating WSU, which is seen as a G5 team in their current conference, they drew the short end of the stick.
Notable opponents coming to the Palouse: University of Arizona Wildcats (2026), University of Washington Huskies (2027), University of Kansas Jayhawks (2027), Kansas State University Wildcats (2029), North Texas (2030), and Virginia and Toledo (2031).
This is not the only concerning news for WSU. Six recruits of the 2026 class have de-committed. Hudson Lewis is a big name who de-committed. The three-star athlete is the No. 6-ranked player in Idaho. Lewis is a hard commit to the Utah Utes. Another is John Herbert, who de-committed and committed to the Houston Cougars before the season started. Herbert is a top-100 player in all of Texas.
WSU’s 2026 class of commits is currently ranked No. 85. While not a terrible class ranking compared to similar universities, it does not look great. Boise State is ranked No. 50, Wake Forest No. 51 and Sacramento State No. 62. Even Northern Illinois University is ranked higher than WSU at No. 83.
While six recruits do not sound like a lot, it is significant for what head coach Jimmy Rogers is trying to build. With WSU’s NIL budget, it is hard to recruit top-level talent. So when you do and then they decommit, it makes it all the more difficult. Most of the decommits came after blowout losses to North Texas, 59-10, and Washington, 59-24.
