The Most Intriguing Matchups on Washington State Football's 2025 Schedule

Jared Miller | Feb 21, 2025

Sep 14, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars edge Raam Stevenson (45) sacks Washington Huskies quarterback Will Rogers (7) during the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

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Washington State's upcoming football schedule is anything but typical. Even compared to their Mountain West-heavy 2024 slate, the Cougars' journey this fall is going to be an interesting and all-around odd one. The 2025 regular season will see Jimmy Rogers' squad face six teams its never seen before, make three trips East of the Mississippi River before Halloween and even play the same team twice in the span of a month. Here are the most anticipated and intriguing games on this year's docket for the Cougs.

August 30 vs. Idaho

The Cougars will kick off the season by renewing the Battle of the Palouse rivalry with Idaho. Normally an FCS-vs-FBS game doesn't garner a ton of interest but for Washington State this is not only a longstanding, regional matchup but it also one against one of the better FCS programs out there right now. Last year WSU blew the doors off visiting Portland State to start their campaign but it wasn't much of a measuring stick for either squad as PSU only won three games in 2024. The Vandals, though, were a playoff team and should be able to put up more of a fight. The two programs have not met since 2022 with the Cougs winning a close one 24-17.

September 20 vs. Washington

The Apple Cup, now a non-conference battle, swings back to Pullman for the first time in three years and based on Washington State's performance in it last season, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic that the Cougars can pick up their second straight win over UW. This year's meeting will be the 117th between the two schools and will serve as WSU's first chance to win one in the series at home since 2012. The Huskies were a bowl team last year but finished with a below .500 record for the first time in three seasons. If Washington State wins, it would be the first time they picked up back-to-back victories over Washington since the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

October 18 at Virginia

It's not very often that Washington State clashes with an AAC opponent in the regular season, let alone in Ocrober, but that's exactly what will happen when they travel to Charlottesville in 2025. It will be a first-ever meeting between the Cougs and the Cavaliers and it should be a good one. Virginia went 5-7 last year, just missing out on a bowl game. UVA, though, has shown steady improvement in each of Tony Elliot's three seasons at the helm. It will be an opportunity for the Cougs to pick up their first win in the Eastern time zone since 2015 when they defeated Rutgers in New Jersey.

November 22 at James Madison

The Cougars will get a chance to play one of the newer FBS teams in late November when they make their debut trip to Harrisonburg to battle James Madison. JMU has been one of the bigger success stories in all of college football in recent years. After moving up from the FCS in 2022, the Dukes have posted three straight winning seasons in the Sun Belt Conference and have appeared in two bowl games already, winning last year's Boca Raton Bowl. Washington State and James Madison have never met on the gridiron before.

November 29 vs. Oregon State

Clashes between Washington State and Oregon State hold even more weight these days as they're the only two teams in the Pac-12, at least as of right now. 2025's regular season finale, however, will be extra interesting because it will be the second time during the season (and during the month of November) that WSU and OSU will square off. The Cougs and the Beavers are slated to meet twice in the same season, a phenomenon that hasn't happed for the pair since the 1945 season, in order to fill each team's schedules. Oregon State will host Washington State on November 1 before the Cougars welcome the Beavs in for the rematch on November 29. Meeting twice in that short of span may lead to some added animosity and a whole lot could be on the line come that final Saturday for both.

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