Many Cougs will set rivalry aside, cheer on home state Huskies in title game

Jan. 7—You wouldn’t find a Coug cheering on the Huskies six weeks ago when Washington escaped Husky Stadium with a 3-point win over Washington State in the Apple Cup.

Now, many Cougars fans say they will put the bitter rivalry aside and support the enemy on the West Side when the undefeated Huskies take the field in Monday’s national championship game against the undefeated Michigan Wolverines in Houston.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, who served as chancellor of Washington State University Spokane from 2013-17, said she will always back the Cougs, but she and her husband, Brian McClatchey, will root for the Huskies on Monday as a matter of state pride.

McClatchey is a Washington and Michigan alum, having attended Washington as an undergraduate student before moving on to Michigan Law School.

“We’re all Huskies on Monday,” Brown said.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., will also be pulling for the Huskies.

Murray graduated from Washington State with a bachelor’s degree in 1972, but the Bothell native has family ties to both Washington schools.

“As a proud WSU graduate it’s no secret I’m a Cougs fan — but my family has UW and WSU grads, and as a Senator for all of Washington state I’ll be rooting for UW all the way in the championship Monday,” Murray said in a statement. “Go dawgs!”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer engaged in playful trash talk about the game on Twitter.

In a 40-second video, Inslee, a Washington alum, told Whitmer he was looking forward to closing out the Huskies season with a win.

Whitmer said Michigan will come out on top and she looked forward to telling Inslee, “I told you so.”

“Look, Gretchen, our letter is ‘W’ for ‘Win’ and ‘Washington,’ OK? This is in the bag,” Inslee responded.

The two Democratic governors then made a bet.

If the Huskies win, Whitmer said she will send Inslee…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/many-cougs-set-rivalry-aside-030200590.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-01-08 03:02:00

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