Huskies links: Petersen talks bowls, no update on WSU QB Luke Falk (plus other stuff)

A few Monday night links as the Apple Cup nears ...

--- Our story in today’s newspaper goes into Chris Petersen’s thoughts on the possibility of some 5-7 teams playing in bowl games this season. He didn’t come out and say it, but he doesn’t seem to be real thrilled about it (even though the Huskies might find themselves in that very situation).

A snippet:

Chris Petersen knows there exists a possibility that the Washington Huskies could play in a bowl game even if they don’t beat Washington State on Friday to achieve a 6-6 record.

With there likely to be a shortage of six-win teams — there are 80 bowl spots, and only 71 teams currently eligible to fill them — it appears that some bowls will have to settle for teams that finish the season with a 5-7 record.

But don’t ask the Huskies coach about. He says he’s not ready to think that way.

“Don’t ask me the question,” Petersen said, “because I don’t even know. We’re just playing this game.”

If they win, they will be guaranteed a bowl berth somewhere, though perhaps not to a bowl affiliated with the Pac-12. There are only seven of those, and seven of the league’s nine bowl-eligible teams will finish with a better record than UW.

If they lose, they will finish the regular season with a 5-7 record, but could luck into a bowl anyway. There are 18 teams that could still finish with six wins, though several of them would need to pull off an upset or two to make it happen. Nine of them must qualify for bowl games to avoid at least one 5-7 team being selected.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the NCAA oversight committee will determine the guidelines for how bowls should select such teams if necessary. Current NCAA rules do not address the issue.

--- I joined Michael Preston on the CougCenter Hour to talk about the Apple Cup, and you can listen to that here.

--- TNT reporter Todd Milles is in Pullman for a few days and filed a pair of stories from the Washington State perspective -- this one recapping Mike Leach’s somewhat contentious Monday press conference, and this feature on star WSU receiver Gabe Marks.

--- More on Leach’s explanation of his non-explanation.

--- The Huskies are impressed by WSU’s improved defense.

--- Matt Calkins wonders if Leach might have been too flippant when discussing Falk’s injury status.

--- The NCAA oversight committee will decide how bowls will select 5-7 teams to fill any remaining spots, if necessary.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Huskies links: Petersen talks bowls, no update on WSU QB Luke Falk (plus other stuff)."