College football Week 12 watchability rankings: Washington State won't be in the Playoff, but the Cougars deserve our attention

If the Pac-12 hadn’t splintered and exploded, Washington State would seem like a lock to make the 12-team College Football Playoff this season. The Cougars are 8-1, ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll and the CFP rankings, and their lone loss is to a Boise State team that is, in all likelihood, going to be the Group of Five representative in the field.

But the Pac-12 as we knew it is dead, killed by conference commissioners, television executives and greed. Much of its former members were...