San Jose State-Washington State is not the most anticipated game on the Week Four FBS slate. Arguably, it is not even the most anticipated game on Friday night, with Illinois and Nebraska’s all-ranked Friday night affair on Fox stealing the headlines. However, it is unprecedented territory for the San Jose State Spartans. Never before has San Jose State played in a game with this optimal blend of exposure and national implications.
Both the Cougars and Spartans come into Friday's game undefeated. San Jose State has just its second 3-0 start since 1982, while Washington State is now a sleeper pick for the College Football Playoff after its thrilling Apple Cup victory over Washington. While NIU and Toledo look like the front-runners for the Group of Five's Playoff spot, San Jose State could vault itself into the Playoff conversation. A CBS Black Friday game against Stanford and a game against Oregon State on the CW, along with Washington State give the Spartans a comparable resume to NIU and Toledo should they win all three contests. Additionally, the Spartans face league front-runners Boise State and UNLV. A 13-0 San Jose State team with this resume has a path to the Playoff.
Washington State has a more arduous, but existent nonetheless, path to the Playoff. The Cougars still have a game against Boise State and Mountain West contender Fresno State to push it to a 12-0 record with two Power Four wins for a chance at an at-large spot.
This scenario-building seems exaggerated, but several FBS teams are already out of Playoff contention. Remaining in the College Football Playoff race after three games is an accomplishment.
The game has increased visibility and anticipation with a unique Friday night slot on The CW. Without the financial barriers of a cable/over-the-top TV subscription, this game has optimized accessibility to the country. Not only is it on network TV, but it is in the late-night, timeslot with a 10 PM ET kickoff. For a large portion of the game, The CW will air the only college football game on network television and television at large.
San Jose State has never played a regular-season game with as much accessibility and national importance. San Jose State has spent eight weeks and parts of three seasons in the Top 25, 1975, 2012, and 2020. The 1975 team went 9-2 but was never seriously considered for any bowl.
The 2012 team finished 11-2 and ranked #19 in the AP Poll, but a blowout loss to eventual WAC champion Utah State and Northern Illinois' dream season pushed the Spartans out of a BCS Bowl.
Although the Spartans went 7-0 during the 2020 regular season, Cincinnati, Tulsa, Louisiana, and Coastal Carolina had better cases to represent the Group of Five in the New Year's Six entering Conference Championship Weekend.
Only two regular season games in San Jose State’s history even come close to having the same combination of national relevance and exposure of their matchup with the Cougars. San Jose State’s late-season matchup with San Diego State in 1975 received an ABC regional telecast, with both teams entering with 8-1 records. However, as mentioned earlier, bowl games passed on the Spartans and Aztecs. San Jose State entered a 2006 ABC appearance against Nevada with a 4-1 record and a win over Stanford. However, only 16% of ABC stations aired the game, and an opening-week loss to Washington made the Spartans' BCS hopes minuscule even with an 11-1 record.
The game also marks a special occasion for The CW. The CW builds momentum as an upstart college football broadcaster. A Friday night game with College Football Playoff implications is quite the follow-up to airing the #5 team in the country, Ole Miss, on September 14th.
Alas, San Jose State-Washington State has implications never seen in a Spartan regular season game. The Spartans’ fast start and the expanded Playoff put them in uncharted territory. Furthermore, the Spartans will have no competition for viewers for most of the game. For the first time possibly ever, most of the country could see a season-shaping San Jose State game on over-the-air television.
