How big was Washington State’s win over Wisconsin for the Pac-12?

In terms of major national headlines, Deion Sanders and Colorado have become the big story in the Pac-12 through the first two weeks of the season. The Buffaloes have been on Fox Big Noon Saturday twice this season. They won both times. That dramatically increased their national profile. Now they’re going to be on ESPN College GameDay for Week 3 and their game against Colorado State.

If you’re not reading Buffaloes Wire, you’re missing out on a lot of timely and interesting Colorado coverage. Get on over there and find out what Coach Prime is doing.

The fact that Colorado has become a major national story should not obscure what is happening in Pullman. Washington State came up huge with an impressive win over Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers this past weekend.

The Pac-12 has several top-tier contenders for the conference championship, but Washington State — regarded by many as the seventh-best team in the conference heading into the season, just pulled off a big nonconference win. That speaks to the league’s depth.

How big is Washington State’s win over Wisconsin for the Cougars and the Pac-12? We asked our panel of Pac-12 experts for their insights:

DON SMALLEY, DUCKS WIRE

How big is Washington State’s win over Wisconsin for the Cougars and the Pac-12? It’s big. It proves this conference has a lot of depth and there aren’t any gimmes here. It may also say the Big Ten could be a bit overrated. A lot of bad teams exist in that league this year.

ZACHARY NEEL, DUCKS WIRE

I think Washington State’s win over Wisconsin is massive for the Cougars and the Pac-12 in general. It makes it clear that this isn’t a five-team league in 2023, but could be closer to a seven- or eight-team league at the present. Washington State is not an easy out this year, and they will undoubtedly knock off a Pac-12 title contender at some point this season.

MATT WADLEIGH, TROJANS AND BUFFALOES WIRE

Washington State’s win over Wisconsin is massive for the Pac-12. The Cougars and Oregon State Beavers are the final two teams remaining in the Pac-12 (and a two-team conference has been discussed for 2024). They are both in the top 25, and perhaps their success can have other conferences calling and asking for them to move over.

MATT ZEMEK, TROJANS WIRE

Pretty big. Washington State was generally regarded as the seventh-best team in the Pac-12 before the season began. The Cougars were not perceived as the “dangerous floater” Oregon State and (to an extent) UCLA were in August. Yet, they handled Wisconsin well. Wazzu controlled the majority of that game and, when it faltered, was able to regroup very quickly.

We have seen Washington State implode many times over the years — Pac-12 fans know this phenomenon as “Cougin’ it” — but this time, Wazzu held firm. That’s a very impressive display of resilience from Jake Dickert’s team against an opponent coached by Luke Fickell, who led a team (Cincinnati) to the College Football Playoff two years ago. This is a testament to the Pac-12’s quality depth. It’s a big statement for the conference.

FURTHER READING

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire