Gonzaga vs. Washington has been one of the more contentious NCAA Basketball west coast rivalries this decade. And the series will now continue for several more years.
An in-state NCAA Basketball rivalry that goes back to 1910 is being renewed through 2024. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and the University of Washington Huskies agreed to renew their in-state rivalry on Monday. The Huskies have lost the last twelve meetings with the Zags and are not ready to end this rivalry. Huskies Head Coach Mike Hopkins said in a press conference announcing the four-year extension of the rivalry, “Gonzaga is a great team with a great coach, and anytime you can play a program like that, you want to keep that going for as long as possible”.
The Huskies and Gonzaga played each other for the first time in 10 years back in the 2016-2017 season after renewing the rivalry for four years until the 2019-2020 season. This new agreement will keep the must-see rivalry going at least till the 2024 season.
The new agreement will be a four year home and home series where the Bulldogs will host the Huskies during the 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 seasons. Then the rivalry will head to Seattle for the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 seasons.
I am very excited to see what renewing this in-state rivalry will bring to both basketball teams as well as the cities these teams represent. I know for myself I love the fact that this rivalry is being renewed. I feel that this will now open doors for Gonzaga fans that have not been able to attend a home game a chance to be able to travel to Seattle, Washington to see this rivalry renewed. Something that most Gonzaga fans thought was going to end after the 2019-2020 basketball season.
I believe that this is a great opportunity for both teams to have a high caliber non-conference game that lives up the hype and excitement as the NCAA March Madness tournament. Both teams renewing this rivalry will give them the best chance to see how their squads stack up against non-conference opponents and will allow both coaches to make adjustments before the NCAA tournament.