Riley's Third Year Brings 11 Road Games and a Jan. 3 Tip in FresnoPULLMAN – Washington State’s first men’s basketball schedule in the rebuilt Pac-12 has arrived.
In coach David Riley’s third season, the Cougars have five home nonconference games in Pullman, and their Pac-12 opener is set for Jan. 3 at Fresno State. WSU will also play 11 nonconference games away from Pullman, the program’s most since 1973-74, underscoring the ways coaches have to keep budgets in mind when building schedules in this new athletics ecosystem.
WSU has a home game on Nov. 14 against Kirkland, of the NAIA ranks, marking the Cougars’ first time hosting a non-Division-I opponent since 2015.
WSU and Gonzaga will meet in Pullman on Jan. 6, which is a Wednesday during the Cougars’ winter break, and in Spokane on Feb. 17.
In the new Pac-12, it’s become clear that teams will play primarily on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which is the case for the majority of the Cougars’ games. They have a few games set for Sunday, particularly early in the conference slate, but those will be the most prevalent game days.
It’s also now official that for the first time since 1917, WSU and rival Washington will not play a regular-season game against each other. Instead, the clubs will meet for an exhibition matchup Oct. 25 in Seattle.
The beginning of the new Pac-12 schedule won’t be easy for WSU, which faces a stretch of three of four road games: at Boise State, at home against San Diego State, then on the road to face Colorado State and Utah State, the last of which figures to be a new conference power.
The Cougars also have what figures to be a brutal two-game stretch Feb. 17 and Feb. 20, which include road games against Gonzaga and San Diego State, respectively.
The new Pac-12 Tournament is set for March 9–13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
After 108 years, Cougs-Huskies hoops goes exhibition onlyPULLMAN – One of the country’s longest college basketball series will not continue this upcoming season.
Washington State and rival Washington are not expected to play a regular-season game this year, according to a source familiar with the situation, putting one of the NCAA’s longest running rivalries on pause at least for one season. Instead, the Cougars and Huskies are set to play an exhibition game in Seattle in October.
WSU was open to playing UW this season, according to a source, but talks between the sides fell through. That means for the first time since 1917, the rivals won’t play each other, ending a streak of 301 games.
When WSU coach David Riley and UW coach Danny Sprinkle took their respective jobs in spring 2024, not long after the traditional Pac-12 collapsed, they agreed to a two-year extension of the series, with one game in Seattle and one in Pullman, both UW wins. It appears that a further extension is not in the cards, at least not this year.
Over the years, the coaches have shared some differing opinions on the series’ importance. Before the first game of the extension, which became an 89-73 Washington win in December 2024, Riley said he’d like to keep as many Washington-based teams on his schedule, including the Huskies.
“I think that’s something that we’ve done with all these Northwest teams, is to make sure that we’re doing right by what I think is good for college basketball and playing these local teams,” said Riley, who was born in Seattle but grew up in the Bay Area. “I think this is just a heck of a game.”
Around the same time, Sprinkle seemed to disagree.
“It’s a rivalry,” he said. “It wasn’t that important to me to keep it on the schedule. It’s important to a lot of other people. They’ve always been good. It’s gonna be a really tough game.”
But since then, Sprinkle has also indicated he would like to continue the rivalry in some form.
“If it’s best for our program? Yeah, if it’s not, then no,” Sprinkle said about playing WSU, according to the Seattle Times. “I have to make decisions for UW basketball, and if it is, then great. If it’s not, if it doesn’t benefit us, then (no).
“I love the rivalry. I love being 2-0 in the rivalry, too. And I’m not taking a shot. I think Coach Riley does a great job. They’re fun games.”
This season, the game would have been a fascinating one. This spring, the Huskies used the transfer portal to land two players who started their careers under Riley: LeJuan Watts and Steele Venters, centerpieces on Riley’s best Eastern Washington teams. Watts played 2024-25 for Riley at WSU before transferring to Texas Tech, while Venters followed three seasons at EWU with a transfer to Gonzaga, where he played sparingly the past two seasons due to injuries.
Here is WSU’s known nonconference slate.
• At Washington (exhibition), date TBA.
• Vs. Davidson, date TBA.
• Vs. Duke (Palm Springs), Nov. 21.
• Vs. Idaho, Nov. 27.
• At Murray State, Nov. 30.
• Vs. North Dakota State, Dec. 6.
• Vs. Eastern Washington (Spokane), Dec. 22.
• At LSU, Dec. 28.
WSU makes new hire in athletics front office
The Cougars are hiring a new executive senior associate director of athletics, according to a Friday release: Tyler Mariucci, who is coming over from Fresno State, one of the new schools in the rebuilt Pac-12. He will oversee the Cougar Athletic Fund and the ticket office.
In his previous three years in a similar role with the Bulldogs, Mariucci oversaw all athletic fundraising efforts and ticketing operations, leading three consecutive record-breaking fundraising years that generated over $35 million in support, according to the release, including $14.5 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
“Tyler has a strong track record of growing revenue and building relationships,” WSU athletic director Jon Haarlow said via release. “His experience overseeing fundraising and ticket operations makes him a tremendous addition to our team. Tyler will play an important role in strengthening support for Cougar Athletics and enhancing the experience for our donors and fans.”
Mariucci’s biggest achievements have centered around fundraising – maybe the biggest issue facing WSU president Betsy Cantwell and the university at the moment. According to the Bulldogs, he has played a key role in driving back-to-back record-breaking fundraising years, generating more than $21 million in support. That includes an all-time high in seven-figure gifts directed toward strategic initiatives and capital projects. Overall fundraising has increased nearly 40%, per the school.
On top of that, Mariucci knows what it takes to help a program succeed in a new landscape. His last job was at Cal Baptist, which began its first season at the Division I level in 2022. That season, CBU earned several team and individual championships and NCAA berths. Mariucci helped generate more than $2M in fundraising, the highest annual total in program history, while also locking down multiple $1M-plus gifts across his time at CBU.
He helped CBU transition to Division I. He then helped Fresno State transition to the Pac-12. He also has years of prior experience, including administrative jobs at Maryland and San Diego and San Diego State.
