by Billy Witz, Special to FOXSports.com

It seems, then, that Pullman is the perfect place for Washington to play Washington State on Saturday.

Isn't out of sight out of mind?

The two Washington schools would like to hope so, having put together seasons that could end up being not just the worst in school history, but in the history of the Pac-10. Nationally, they might be the worst in decades.

This year, the rivalry game may as well be called the Rotten Apple Cup.

Washington is winless, has had its coach fired and could finish with the worst record in school history. And yet, to get an idea of how bad Washington State has been, the Huskies opened as 8.5-point favorites on the road.

Washington State managed to pummel Portland State, a Bowl Championship Sub-division school, but it has lost every other game by at least 25 points. The Cougars have already allowed 533 points, shattering the Pac-10 record, and are within 33 points of setting the NCAA record. The offense has been just as bad. The Cougars, who entered the season having not been shutout since 1984, have been held scoreless three times in the last four games.

The season has been a downward spiral of inexperience, injuries, bad breaks and plenty of bad football.

If these schools were in Tennessee, their seasons would have inspired a country song.

Bowl season roundup

Bowl recaps and analysis:

EagleBank: Wake 29, Navy 19 | CFN
New Mexico: Colo. St. 40, Fresno St. 35
St. Petersburg: S. Florida 41, Memphis 14
Las Vegas: Arizona 31, BYU 21 | CFN
New Orleans: SMU 30, Troy 27 (OT) | CFN
Poinsettia: TCU 17, Boise St. 16 | CFN
Hawaii: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 | CFN
Motor City: FAU 24, Cen. Mich. 21 | CFN
Meineke: W. Virginia 31, UNC 30 | CFN
Champs Sports: Fla. St. 42, Wis. 13 | CFN
Emerald: Cal 24, Miami 17 | CFN
Independence: La. Tech 17, NIU 10 | CFN
Papajohns.com: Rutgers 29, N.C. St. 23
Alamo: Mizzou 30, N'west. 23 (OT) | CFN
Humanitarian: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
Texas: Rice 38, W. Michigan 14
Holiday: Oregon 42, Oklahoma St. 31 | CFN
Armed Forces: Houston 34, Air Force 28
Sun: Oregon St. 3, Pittsburgh 0 | CFN
Music City: Vandy 16, BC 14 | CFN
Insight: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Chick-fil-A: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
Outback: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 | CFN
Capital One: Georgia 24, MSU 12 | CFN
Gator: Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
Rose: USC 38, Penn St. 24 | Analysis
Orange: Va. Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
Cotton: Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34
Liberty: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19
Sugar: Utah 31, Alabama 17
International: UConn 38, Buffalo 20
Fiesta: Texas 24, Ohio St. 21 | Analysis
GMAC: Tulsa 45, Ball St. 13
BCS title: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
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It didn't take either team long to understand what type of season it was in for.

After being routed at Oregon in the season opener, the Huskies returned home on Sept. 6 to face 15th-ranked BYU. Quarterback Jake Locker appeared to cap a comeback with a three-yard touchdown run with two seconds left, apparently sending the game into overtime.

But Locker, who tossed the ball in the air as went to celebrate with teammates, was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 35-yard extra point was blocked and Washington walked away a 28-27 loser.

Washington State's metaphorical moment came six days later, when the Cougars flew to Waco, Texas, on the day of their game against Baylor, which had been moved up a day to try to beat Hurricane Ike to town.

Quarterback Kevin Lopina was calling out signals from the shotgun, but turned his head just as the ball was snapped. It hit Lopina in the facemask and Baylor recovered. The Bears scored two plays later and never trailed in a 45-17 win.

There was no recovering for either team. Washington lost Locker, its lone star, to a broken thumb in late September. Coach Tyrone Willingham was fired last month, but is finishing out the season while a search for his successor takes place.

Washington State has started four quarterbacks due to injuries. One blew out a knee when he was hit after a walk-on tackle missed a block. The depth became so thin at midseason that first-year coach Paul Wulff held open tryouts.

Fans haven't turned on their teams as much as they've turned their backs. The Cougars are playing to crowds of just 25,000 — more than 10,000 below capacity at the Pac-10's smallest stadium. Washington is playing before tens of thousands of empty seats at Husky Stadium, where fans have been so drained they barely mustered any anger toward Rick Neuheisel when he returned with UCLA last week.

The low point, collectively, may have come last month when on the same Saturday USC routed Washington and Washington State was hammered by Stanford. The Seattle Times ran a big, bold headline: 114-0, the total score of the twin shellackings.

With offenses ranked 117th and 118th, and defenses ranked 110th and 112th, the only thing interesting about the teams is trying to find historical perspective.

There may have been worse teams than the Huskies and Cougars. Oregon State went 0-11 in 1980, being outscored by an average of 26-7. Those Beavers are the only Pac-10 to go winless in 48 years. Northwestern, during a two-decade stretch of futility, put together a season for the ages in 1981. It went 0-11 and during one stretch was shut out in six of seven games.

As for rivalry games, it might be hard to top Northwestern and Illinois in 1978. They tied in the season-opener, 0-0. Northwestern finished 0-10-1 and Illinois 1-8-2.

One of the few that came close was Washington and Washington State in 1969. Washington, roiled by racial turmoil — several African-American players were suspended by former coach Jim Owens for not signing a pledge of loyalty — beat Washington State for its only win in 10 games. The Cougars also finished 1-9.

What Saturday's game can do for these two teams is to lift a cloud that's hung over their season — at least for a few hours. For the first time in months, they'll take the field believing they really have a chance to win.

"I know that whoever wins is going to feel a little better about themselves," said Wulff, a former Washington State lineman. "I don't think it's going to turn the feelings about the season. It takes a little bit of the sting out of it."

This year, though, nobody's calling it bragging rights.