Mike Leach

WASHINGTON STATE'S 5-1 Cougars are still outside the top 25 -- No. 26 in one poll and No. 28 in another -- but they're on track to be national champions in one respect: they deliver the dollars.

"The Washington State Cougars are 5-1 straight up and 6-0 against the spread through the first half of their season," Sports Illustrated notes a story today. Moreover, the Cougars "have been a consistent money maker under head coach Mike Leach in recent seasons with a 13-4 ATS record over their last 17 games."

SI says WSU is the only team in the nation sitting at a perfect 6-0 ATS through the first six weeks of the season. "With four wins and covers as the betting favorite this season and four over their last four games as one in 2017, the Cougars are 8-0 SU and ATS in their last eight games as a favorite, according to the OddsShark College Football Database." the OdsShark College Football Database, whose team-by-team breakdowns can be found here.

Florida and Cincinnati, at 5-1 each, and Utah State and Georgia Southern, at 5-0 each, are the only other schools coming close to WSU's 6-0 against the spread.

OREGON STATE'S STELLAR GROUND GAME and tickeration on Saturday dropped the Cougar defense from No. 7 in the nation in total defense last week down to No. 16 this week. The Cougars are now surrendering 313.7 yards per game. That's the third-best in the Pac-12 behind Utah (10th nationally) at 296.4 yards per game and Washington (13th at 304.5).

The Cougars don't rate as well when it comes to points given up per game. They surrender an average of 23.8, which is No. 44 in the nation and sixth in the Pac-12. Washington leads the Pac, and is tied for No. 3 in the nation, at 13.7 point per game.

ELSEWHERE AROUND COUGAR NATION, WSU verbal commit Billy Pospisil out of Arvada, Colo., could use some Cougar love. He's locked in a tight online fan vote to earn a spot in UnderArmour's high school all-star game. Head to this link, click on "View Full Bracket" and scroll down to the lower left where you'll find Billy in Region C.

ICYMI, THE 1988 COUGAR FOOTBALL TEAM was honored at the Homecoming game against Utah with flag-raising honors and WSU's Casey Schoenlein caught up with a couple of the standouts from that team, Tim Stallworth and Bob O'Neal.

For more perspective on that titanic comeback and upset of No. 1-rank UCLA and Troy Aikman in '88, head to the Cougfan.com archives for this retrospective: The greatest Cougar victory of all time? Broadcasting legend Keith Jackson called the action that day for ABC and said this following the final whistle: "This game will go down as one of the most stunning upsets of the college football season." It was memorable that ESPN picked the game for its ESPN Classic series and Sam Jankovich, the one-time WSU AD who moved on to Miami, said the victory convinced him then-Cougar coach Dennis Erickson should be his next coach with the Hurricanes.

And speaking of the 1988 Cougs, they were memorably quarterbacked by Timm Rosenbach, who wound up finishing in the top 10 in Heisman Trophy balloting that year. Earlier this summer, we published a story noting the similarities between Rosenbach as he entered that 1988 season and Gardner Minshew as he entered the 2018 campaign.

LAST WEEK, WE RAN A INTERESTING feature story on star Cougar receiver Tay Martin, who in the span of a year in high school lost his mom to heart attack and his dad to prison. We talked with his old high school coach, who says the foundation Tay's parents built within him set the course for his college success. He says he can hear the success in Tay's voice. In case you missed the story, click here to read away.

Related story: After big day in Corvallis, Tay Martin says it's all about team

WHILE ANTICIPATION GROWS AROUND WSU'S next game -- at home against No. 17 Oregon on Oct. 20 -- here's something else to smile about: four of the Cougars' final six games -- including the Nov. 23 Apple Cup -- are at Martin. Besides the Ducks and Dawgs, the Cougs also host Cal on Nov. 3 and Arizona on Nov. 17.

Oregon plays Washington this Saturday, so one way or another some space is going to be cleared on the road to the Pac-12 North title. WSU football chief of staff Dave Emerick joked today on the "Cougs in 60" show with Derek Deis of KXLY Radio in Spokane that he hopes the game is "as physical and grueling as possible."