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Let us just use this very well-worded worded and completely unbiased tweet do all the talking.
Source: Gonzaga’s basketball game with Washington will not be played this season. It was scheduled for Dec. 12 and Gonzaga decided to move on when the PAC-12 postponed to Jan. 1 without consulting Washington. Washington tried to work with Gonzaga. They were unwilling.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 14, 2020
Gonzaga and Washington were originally scheduled to play on Dec. 12 in Spokane, as part of the team’s ongoing home-and-home arrangement. Last season, the Zags defeated Washington in Seattle, 83-76.
Now, of course, ol Petey’s tweet notes that everything was tossed up in the air back on Aug. 11 when the Pac 12 cancelled all sports through the end of the calendar year. That immediately jeopardized the three non-conference games against Arizona, USC, and Washington on Gonzaga’s schedule.
The Pac 12 changed course on Sept. 24, saying sports were back on. By then, college basketball’s ever evolving non-conference upheaval was already in progress. The Jimmy V Classic had already been moved to Orlando and the NCAA had already announced a delayed start to the season.
Gonzaga has already delayed a majority of its prominent home games, wishing them to be played in front of fans—something that will most likely NOT happen during the non-conference slate. There is a good chance that the decision here wasn’t that much different.
Although it is a bummer to not see the two in-state rivals play this year, because it could have been one of the easier games to schedule, the Zags have begun filling in the gaps in the non-conference schedule, setting up huge matchups with Iowa and Baylor.