Is the GU rivalry in Hoops bigger than the UW?

I think so.

As a Coug I enjoy the rivalry with Washington in all sports, but I am not convinced that the real rival in hoops any more is with the Dawgs.

My freshman year at Wazzu I went to a game on December 10, 1986 and saw the Zags win by one 59-58. At the time I - and my dorm mates - were really depressed because we thought of GU as some lowly school. In the 80s John Stockton had played for GU and the program was starting to go on an upswing. It would not be the only GU win in that era. With the proximity and ability of fans to attend easily it felt like a rivalry was really brewing.

For many years prior to the early 80s when Seattle U dropped out of D1, the Seattle versus Washington rivalry was huge. It is now being rekindled with the return to D1 by Seattle U. Washington's closest actual D1 opponent would be Portland otherwise. I would like to take a moment to point out Portland beat Washington this year, just on general principle. Washington has not had a truly close geographic rival in decades. The Cougs have EWU, Idaho, and GU within an hour and half drive of campus. In Philly, much is made of having 5 schools in town. Seattle, with the loss of the Thunder needs the SU and UW game to come to have meaning.

Fast forward to 1996. The Cougs had finished something like 7 straight winning seasons and had been to the NIT a couple times and the Big Dance in 94. GU had also finished another winning season and had been to the Big Dance recently. The first round of the NIT would take place in Pullman and there was a really nice crowd with a huge GU travelling section. On March 14, 1996 I watched the Cougs beat the Zags 92 to 73. It was awesome and odd for me at the same time, since I had gone to GU for a year in 90-91.

Prior to the 96 NIT game the Cougs and Zags had not played for a few years. There was a lot of talk and build up to the game due to that. The series was revived and GU has won most of the games, but with the return to being good under the current regime, Wazzu and GU is a heck of a game. It has been nice to dominate Washington lately, but when the Cougs snapped their losing streak to the Zags a few years ago, that felt better.

Now, the GU game is one to look forward to on the Wazzu schedule. Washington is ducking the Zags any more, but Wazzu never will again. It is awesome.

So, the Cougs are playing the Dawgs, and that is great and all. But, the real rival for Wazzu hoops is the Zags.