After flirting with the polls recently, the Washington State Cougars have broken through in the Amway Coaches Poll. With a 7-3 record and a road win over No. 18 UCLA in the books, the Cougars are ranked, checking in at No. 23 in the first poll of the day. That's one spot behind the Oregon Ducks, who are playing well with the addition of a healthy Vernon Adams, but lost to the Cougars in October.

This is, from a quick and crude check, the first time the Cougars have been ranked since November 2006, a drought that's stretched on for nine years. And Washington State has done it in improbable fashion after dropping a game to Portland State to open the season and struggling through the non-conference slate.

The Cougars now have an incredibly realistic chance to run the table, facing Colorado at home and Washington in Seattle to close the season with the Apple Cup. If you thought this would be where Wazzu sat in the middle of November a couple months ago, please buy a lottery ticket.

Elsewhere in the rankings, USC checks in at No. 24, Utah falls to No. 18 and Stanford falls to No. 15. It was a volatile week in the rankings, with every single team moving. You can check out the full rankings here.