Tip of the hat to Peaty411s, who brought up the link to Pat Forde's red-hot college football rivalries for 2009. Yes, Washington-Washington State is on there, although mainly for the legislative fight over Husky Stadium this Spring. And even though the economy alone was enough to stall any sort of publicly-funded stadium bill out of Olympia, a lot of Huskies blame the Cougars for the failure. And, in turn, we Cougars hate the Huskies for even asking to refurbish their monstrosity on the lake in the first place. So there's some heat to the rivalry after all.
What I found interesting, though, is that there is neither a Coug nor Husky mention on Forde's basketball rivalry article of the same nature. What gives, Pat? There's no UW, WSU or even Gonzaga game on the list. That includes not just the Top Ten, but the honorable mention section as well. Certainly one of the three schools deserves a nod.
We have some of the better rivalry games in the nation right here in the Evergreen State. So the real question I want to ask is this: What's your favorite WSU rivalry? Is it the passion and intensity of the Apple Cup, a once a year event with bragging rights on the line? Or is it Cougar basketball against the Huskies? With a game in Pullman and Seattle every year, it delivers both quantity and quality, and makes for one of the most passionate home crowds of the year. Or, another option: Gonzaga versus WSU. It's neighbor-versus-neighbor in the US 195 corridor, with plenty of hatred to go around and opposing fans sneaking into the other's gym on a more frequent basis (well, maybe not so much at GU, because that arena is tiny.) Finally, there's the longshot: WSU against the fearsome Idaho Vandals. I'm sorry, I just had to laugh when I typed that last sentence.
On to the poll: