WSU opens Pac-12 play at Washington

Good morning Coug fans. The men’s basketball version of your Washington State Cougars are in Seattle today to open the Pac-12 basketball season against the Washington Huskies. After finishing the non-conference slate 7-6, the Cougs get set to face what is technically a more difficult schedule starting today.

But it’s not exactly a murderer’s row.

The Pac-12, you see, is struggling. In men’s basketball, the conference has zero teams ranked in the top-25. It might be a one-bid league this March. Its “best” team just lost to Princeton. So, things have been better.

The Cougs head into tonight’s game healthy. You’ll recall Robert Franks has missed time, and Viont’e Daniels was out for some time with a concussion. They’re both back and will have to deal with UW’s zone defense.

UW (94-4) will counter with some veteran leaders, though Jaylen Nowell is a sophomore and leads the team with 17.1 points per game.

Jeff had a good temperature check of the team yesterday.

WSU and UW have two common opponents—San Diego and Seattle U. UW beat both teams, while WSU did not. So there’s that.

It’s a late game, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST. You can watch the action on the Pac-12 Network.

Mike Leach to the NFL? That’s hilarious.

Can you even imagine?

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There is an athletics connection to this story—and a really cool one. Do yourself a favor and read this, athletics connection or not.

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Evan Henniger’s parents never thought college would be a possibility for their son. Evan, 20, was diagnosed with Down syndrome shortly after his birth, and the prospect of venturing away from home on his own seemed unlikely.

Oklahoma should send Mike Leach a thank-you note, at the very least

Lincoln Riley, Ruffin McNeill, Dennis Simmons, Bennie Wylie, Bill Bedenbaugh and now Alex Grinch are all people who have either played for or coached under Mike Leach (or both). All of them are on the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff.

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Oklahoma would be getting a defensive coordinator who is aggressive and whose units create a lot of turnovers.

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Washington State head coach Mike Leach is a straight shooter, which was yet again the case when called Friday afternoon.

So close!

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WSU held a late lead but the Beavers came up with a championship push late to avoid the upset.

WSU Links

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President Donald Trump has signed legislation to award former New Orleans Saints and Washington State football player Steve Gleason the Congressional Gold Medal.

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Evan Henniger’s parents never thought college would be a possibility for their son. Evan, 20, was diagnosed with Down syndrome shortly after his birth, and the prospect of venturing away from home on his own seemed unlikely.

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Through two days in Hawaii, the Cougars have won 12 of 14 singles matches.

Pac-12 Links

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