WSU and UW men’s hoops to kick off new home-and-home series next season in Seattle

PULLMAN – Washington State and Washington may no longer compete in the same conference, but their men’s basketball series isn’t over.

The Cougars and Huskies have agreed to a nonconference home-and-home series beginning Dec. 18 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, according to a release published Wednesday, with the second game coming in the 2025-26 season in Pullman.

For WSU, competing next season as West Coast Conference affiliate members as it joins Oregon State in trying to rebuild the Pac-12 Conference, it’ll be a chance to get back at the Big Ten-bound Huskies for ending their 2024 regular season with a loss in Pullman. The Cougs topped the Huskies in an overtime thriller in their first clash of the season in Seattle.

It’ll also be an opportunity for one of WSU’s newest pledges, point guard Nate Calmese, to play his former UW squad. Calmese started his career at Lamar before playing last year at Washington.

WSU and UW will enter the season with new head coaches.

Former Eastern Washington coach David Riley has replaced former WSU coach Kyle Smith.

Former Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle has filled the void left by Mike Hopkins, who was fired by UW toward the end of last season.

Washington State’s 2024-25 schedule isn’t finalized, but the program knows its WCC pairings. WSU will play two games against Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Portland, Pacific and San Diego. The Cougs will only have one game against OSU – set for Corvallis – and will play their lone game against Loyola Marymount in Pullman.

WSU and Oregon State will be eligible to win conference championships and earn automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.