The final AP Poll sees the Cougars finish in the top 10 for the fifth time in school history

Late Monday night, the final AP Top 25 poll of the 2018-19 College Football season was released. No surprise, given how they manhandled Alabama to win the national championship, that Clemson was No. 1.

Do take note of who was ranked No. 10: Washington State.

For the first time in school history, the Cougars were the highest-ranked Pac-12 school in the final poll. It is the fifth time the Cougars have finished in the top 10 and the first time since 2003.

The Cougars won the Valero Alamo Bowl in an exciting 28-26 victory over Iowa State.

Pac-12 Conference champion Washington was not too far behind at No. 14 after losing the 2019 Rose Bowl to Ohio State 28-23.

These were the only schools from the conference to be ranked in the final poll with Stanford, Utah, and Oregon all receiving votes.

An early look at next season

After the CFP title game, sites like The Athletic, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated debuted their “Way too early” Top 25 projections for next season. The Pac-12 saw representation in all three, especially from the teams in the north division.

The Athletic

9. Oregon

20. Utah

22. Washington

24. USC

(Just missing the cut: Washington State and Stanford)

ESPN

12. Oregon

13. Washington State

16. Washington

18. Utah

Sports Illustrated

10. Oregon

12. Washington

15. Utah

(Next in line: Arizona, USC, and Washington State)

This story was originally published January 8, 2019 at 11:58 AM with the headline "The final AP Poll sees the Cougars finish in the top 10 for the fifth time in school history."