Inside The Huskies

UW Basketball Will Host Games Against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State

The Huskies will meet teams that haven't been to Montlake for three decades or more.

Dan Raley

Zoom Diallo lets go of a shot against Nebraska at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Zoom Diallo lets go of a shot against Nebraska at Alaska Airlines Arena. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Even while the University of Washington basketball team finished last in its new conference surroundings, fans crowded into Alaska Airlines Arena last season eager to see the Huskies face Big Ten teams.

There was no shortage of interest in these games, with plenty of people dressed in opposing gear while showing up as transplanted alums or as avid alumni travelers, and people generally making these games a happening event.

This coming winter, as announced on Tuesday, the Big Ten match-ups in Montlake will be even better with the Huskies hosting Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

Michigan hasn't played in Seattle since Dec. 30, 1994, when the Wolverines lost 65-61 to the Huskies in the US West Cellular Tournament at what was then more commonly known as Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Ohio State's last trip to Seattle was in 1972, when the Buckeyes fell 67-63 to a Steve Hawes-led Huskies team.

And Michigan State? The Spartans last showed their face in town in 1957, when they were eighth-ranked and were upset by the UW 71-69. And, no, Tom Izzo wasn't the coach for the visitors back then.

Penn State has never played in Seattle before.

The Huskies will play 10 Big Ten home games and 10 on the road, same as they did in their debut season in the conference.

Opponents who will host the UW next season are Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers.

The trips to College Park, Maryland, and Piscataway, New Jersey, will be a first in program annals for the Huskies.

Bringing some geographical sanity to the UW basketball schedule next winter are continued home-and-away series with Oregon, UCLA and USC.

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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.

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