1942 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1942 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College during the 1942 college football season. Seventeenth-year head coach Babe Hollingbery led the team to a 5–1–1 mark in the PCC and 6–2–2 overall.

Washington State was ranked at No. 50 (out of 590 college and military teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1942.

Two home games were played on campus at Rogers Field in Pullman and two in Spokane at Gonzaga Stadium.

The season was Hollingbery's last and marked the longest tenure at the school. Shortly before the start of the 1943 season, the WSC football program (with Idaho and Oregon State), went on hiatus due to World War II, joining Oregon and Montana. Two seasons were missed, and Cougar football returned in 1945.