Washington State head coach Mike Leach has, in the past, had a strange habit of not getting his team properly prepared for FCS teams in the past but that’s not stopping the school from adding a few lower division foes to round out their future schedules.
Thanks to FBSchedules.com obtaining game contracts via open records requests, we know the Cougars have added local rival Idaho to their slate in 2022 and fellow FCS foe Northern Colorado to the 2023 schedule.
The Vandals will make the eight mile trip to Pullman on Sept. 3, 2022 for an easy $575,000 guarantee as the two schools continue their series. The pair recently played in a WSU blowout back in 2016 and have two other games already on the docket for 2020 and 2025. While Idaho did drop down from the FBS level just a few years ago, one could probably excuse them for keeping the one-sided series going considering their campuses’ proximity and 92 prior meetings.
The Bears on the other hand will take in a slightly less $525,000 for their game on Sept. 16, 2023 at Martin Stadium. The programs are actually set to play a Wazzu home game in Week 2 of the upcoming 2019 season that will be their first meeting on the field.
History lessons aside, the two moves will complete the Cougars’ non-conference schedule for both years. WSU is set to travel to Wisconsin in 2022 while hosting Idaho and Colorado State. The following season will see the team host the Badgers and Idaho while sneaking in a trip to Fort Collins to play CSU.