With the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal both aiming and likely to land BCS bowls, the Washington Huskies seemed poised to go to a great bowl game, or at least one of the best alternatives the Pac-12 slate had to offer. But Washington has stumbled to the finish with three losses against tough competition, then had a bad loss to the Oregon St. Beavers.

Washington is still in position to land one of the top bids, but they probably need to right the ship against the Washington St. Cougars to be an attractive team to pick. UW has a large fanbase and a lot of bowls would love to have them, but they aren't playing well which will probably decrease fan interest and ticket sales from the Pac-12 audience.

Considering that the third team behind Oregon and Stanford that's bowl eligible (USC is not) could hold a 6-6/7-5 record, Washington finishing with a 7-5 season might be enough to earn that big bid to either the Alamo in San Antonio or the Holiday in San Diego. But a loss could place them at the mercy of the bowl selection process, which can be rather arbitrary.

For more on the Apple Cup from Washington fans, head to UW Dawg Pound. For more on the Apple Cup from Washington State fans, check out CougCenter.