One of college basketball’s oldest annual rivalries is suddenly off the schedule. Washington and Washington State will not meet during the 2026-27 regular season, ending a streak that dates back to the 1916-17 season.
That is the part fans will feel first: no December trip to Seattle, no Pullman return date, no late-game chaos between programs separated by roughly 300 miles but connected by generations of history. The schools are still scheduled to meet in football, but basketball is taking a very different path.
- 🏀 Washington is entering its second season in the Big Ten.
- 🏀 Washington State is returning to the rebuilt Pac-12.
- 🏀 The Cougars’ posted nonconference slate includes Duke, Murray State and Eastern Washington, but not Washington.
The bigger issue is what this says about modern scheduling. Conference realignment did not merely redraw league maps; it removed the automatic structure that protected regional rivalries. Once Washington joined the Big Ten and Washington State helped relaunch the Pac-12, the old home-and-home arrangement became a nonconference choice. For 2026-27, that choice was not made.
That matters even if both teams eventually replace the matchup with stronger résumé opportunities. Rivalry games carry value that a random high-major pairing cannot fully replicate: local stakes, student memories and a built-in emotional edge before the ball goes up. Washington State still has a marquee neutral-site test against Duke, while Washington will spend its season navigating a demanding Big Ten calendar. Those games may help March résumés. They do not replace this one.
For now, the basketball rivalry is paused, not erased. But after 110 consecutive seasons, even one empty spot on the calendar feels enormous.