Portland State vs Washington State Prediction College Football Picks 8/31/24

The Portland State Vikings and the Washington State Cougars meet Saturday in college football action from Martin Stadium. Here’s a Portland State vs Washington State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Portland State vs Washington State pick. We will examine:

The Washington State Cougars recent form and player performance

The Portland State Vikings recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Washington State Cougars

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Portland State Vikings

Recent betting trends in games played between Portland State and Washington State

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Portland State vs Washington State game

Portland State Vikings Betting Preview

Last year the Vikings had a pretty choppy campaign. Portland State ended up going 5-6 overall with a 4-4 record in Big Sky games. The Vikings would finish near the middle of the pack in the standings, ahead of Weber State, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Cal Poly and Northern Colorado.

Head coach Bruce Barnum enters his 10th year on the Portland State sideline in 2024, and he’s got a host of second-year coordinators surrounding him. It’s been eight straight losing campaigns for the Vikings however, and the school is hungry for success.

Washington State Cougars Betting Preview

Over on the Washington State side, they also had a losing season in 2023. The Cougars finished 5-7 overall with a rough 2-7 mark in Pac-12 play. That would leave Washington State just three spots out of the basement ahead of Stanford, Arizona State and Colorado among the conference standings.

It’ll be a weird season for Jake Dickert, who enters his fourth year. Washington State and Oregon State are the only schools left standing in the Pac-12, as the others bolted for other conferences in the offseason. A scheduling partnership with the Mountain West Conference will move things along in 2024.

Why the Washington State Cougars will win

• Washington State has won each of its last four home games against non-conference opponents.

Why the Portland State Vikings will win

• Washington State has lost three of its last four games as a favorite.
• Washington State has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight home games against non-FBS teams.

Total Points Facts

• Six of Washington State’s last seven home openers have gone UNDER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• Washington State ranked 17th among FBS teams for Q1 points per game last season (8.7).
• Washington State ranked T35th among FBS teams for H1 win percentage last season (.583).

Portland State vs Washington State Prediction

I’ll stay with Washington State. The line’s a little too thick to mess with, though. The Cougars should still be pretty good on offense once again this year, even though Cameron Ward has departed via transfer. Washington State still has a couple of productive backs in Dylan Paine and Djouvensky Schlenbaker, along with receivers Kyle Williams and Carlos Hernandez. There’s some experience on the line as well, enough to get them through a Mountain West schedule in pretty decent shape at least.

There will be some new faces on the defensive side, as only three of Washington State’s top 10 tacklers returned from last year. We may see a few chemistry hiccups in the early-going but overall I think the Cougars will be good for seven or eight wins this year.