Inside The Huskies

Be Prepared for Some Husky Basketball and Seahawks Overlap

The teams both will be playing on Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
Dan Raley|
Danny Sprinkle is backed by an energetic student section for the UW-Ohio State game.
Danny Sprinkle is backed by an energetic student section for the UW-Ohio State game. | Dave Sizer photo

The crowd at Alaska Airlines Arena might be a little on the light side on Saturday afternoon when the University of Washington basketball team hosts No. 12 Michigan State. Or at least near the end of the game.

Can you say Seahawks' overlap?

The Huskies (10-6 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) and Spartans (14-2, 4-1) will tip off at 3 p.m. PT.

However, it's the tail end of that college basketball outing that could have loyal fans heading for the exits and a TV close by before it's over, with the local NFL team taking on the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lumen Field with a 5 p.m. kickoff.

The Big Ten on Tuesday revealed the start time for the Huskies' game that will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

By best guess, this UW basketball game could be finishing up sometime during the first quarter of the Seahawks-49ers tussle.

At least there's no legend's jersey retirement ceremony planned for that day, as there was this past Sunday when the Huskies hosted and beat Ohio State 81-74 and hung the late Christian Welp's No. 40 jersey from the rafters.

Instead, legendary swingman Detlef Schrempf will be honored with his No. 22 jersey retirement on Saturday, Feb. 28, when the UW entertains Wisconsin for an outing that tips off at 1 p.m.,

Zoom Diallo launches a jumper against Ohio State with a big crowd on hand.
Zoom Diallo launches a jumper against Ohio State with a big crowd on hand. | Dave Sizer photo

NFL postseason games will be long over by then.

However, the Seahawks potentially have two other postseason games lurking and one of them could show up on the same day the Huskies are playing basketball.

On Sunday, Jan. 25, Seattle's pro football team could be involved in the NFC Conference Championship game, again at Lumen Field downtown, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m.

That same day, the Huskies will host the Oregon Ducks at Alaska Airlines Arena, with tipoff at noon.

Which means those games likely don't overlap, unless the UW basketball team goes into double or triple overtime.

As for the Super Bowl, if the Seahawks are so lucky, the big game will be held on Sunday, Feb. 8, in Santa Clara, California with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

Franck Kepnang comes in for the block against Ohio State.
Franck Kepnang comes in for the block against Ohio State. | Dave Sizer photo

The Husky basketball team plays the day before, traveling to UCLA for a Saturday, Feb. 7 game at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, and three days later, it hosts Penn State at Alaska Airlines Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

It's tough being a football and a basketball fan at the same time in Seattle these days.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Basketball