PULLMAN, Wash. -- As if losing the Rose Bowl and its coach weren't enough, Washington State may end up paying $750,000 for unused tickets to the game.

The Cougars sold 26,000 of the school's allotment of 32,000 tickets for the Rose Bowl, leaving 6,000 tickets at $125 apiece to be paid for. It's the first time in 10 years a Pac-10 team failed to sell all its tickets to the game.

"As far as the Rose Bowl goes, unsold tickets become an expense on their side," Pac-10 assistant commissioner Jim Muldoon said Tuesday.

Washington State lost the New Year's Day game to Oklahoma, 34-14. It also was the last time the Cougars were coached by Mike Price, who took the Alabama job but still coached Washington State in the Rose Bowl.

Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen has asked Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk to submit a proposal for the conference to possibly help pay for the tickets.

The unsold tickets could be deducted from Washington State's estimated $1.2 million portion of the Pac-10 bowl payouts, which are shared equally.

Among the reasons given for poor ticket sales were the Cougars' 29-26 triple overtime loss to Washington in the Apple Cup, Price's decision to stick around after taking the Alabama job and a previous visit to the Rose Bowl earlier in the season to play UCLA.

Sterk added that 3,000 to 5,000 Cougars fans bought tickets from Oklahoma instead after the Sooners satisfied their season ticket holders and put the remaining tickets up for public sale. Fans chose guaranteed Oklahoma tickets over the risk of being shut out in the Washington State ticket system, which is what happened when the Cougars went to the 1998 Rose Bowl.

Originally published Wednesday, January 15, 2003