Will Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball Start On Time?
The Washington Huskies football team won’t be playing non-conference games this fall. No one is sure whether any fall or winter sports, including basketball, will happen.
Washington Huskies fans have been paying close attention to the upcoming football season. There are still no guarantees that it, or UW’s basketball season, will go on as scheduled. The Pac-12 Conference has already made significant changes to football. Teams will play a ten-game, conference only, schedule in 2020. Also, the start of the football season won’t begin until September 26.
There is still a chance that unless COVID-19 cases drop, football could move to the spring, or even outright canceled. Then the fate of winter sports like men’s basketball also has to be looked at as well.
It seems like a lifetime ago when the Washington Huskies men’s basketball team played their final game of the 2019-20 season. On March 11, UW fell 77-70 to Arizona in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. That defeat ended the Huskies disappointing 15-17 season. One day later, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott pulled the plug on conference athletics for the rest of the school year. For 2020-21, the situation is still unfolding, and even the best of crystal balls are murky.
Plenty of time to decide
Usually, NCAA basketball begins in early November. Last season UW’s non-league schedule started on November 8. That evening, the Washington Huskies beat Baylor 64-67 in Anchorage, Alaska. The PAC-12 didn’t start its conference schedule until the first week of January. If the coronavirus situation is still crazy two months from now, the NCAA still has time to kick the basketball schedule can down the road.
Recent signs point to some kind of change in the works. On July 22, Tulane announced the cancellation of their November game in Shanghai, China, against Washington. That decision came from Tulane, Washington, and their event partners in China. Even if the upcoming season is limited, the Huskies could still play a few non-conference games. Their scheduled games against in-state opponents Gonzaga and Seattle, in December, don’t require much travel. UW could schedule games against other teams in the region, such as Seattle Pacific and Eastern Washington.
If the 2020-21 season happens (fingers crossed), the Washington Huskies have a talented roster. Unfortunately, outside of Hameir Wright and Nahziah Carter, coach Mike Hopkins‘ Huskies squad is short on experience.
Do you think the college basketball season will go on as planned? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.