SAN FRANCISCO – Washington State University men's basketball opens up Pac-12 play with three-straight home games, beginning with USC, Friday, Jan. 1, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott announced Thursday, along with the entire 2015-16 Pac-12 men's basketball television schedule.
WSU will appear on the Pac-12 Networks 15 times during the conference regular season and seven times during the nonconference regular season for a total of 22 games on the Pac-12 Networks. The Cougars will also be shown on the Pac-12 Networks in their first five Pac-12 games. WSU also appears on Fox Sports 1 once during conference play and on ESPNU twice in Pac-12 season and at least once during the nonconference season as part of the Diamond Head Classic.
Following Washington State's Pac-12 opener against USC at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 1, it will host UCLA, Sunday, Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m., both games on Pac-12 Networks. This year marks the first since 2013-14 that WSU will host the L.A. schools, as last season they only faced each other at Los Angeles. The Cougars remain at home to host Washington Saturday, Jan. 9 at noon, also on the Pac-12 Networks.
WSU hits the road for the first time as it travels to Arizona for the first time in two years and takes on Arizona State at Tempe, Thursday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. PT, followed by a trip to Tucson to take on Arizona, Saturday, Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Both of those games are also on Pac-12 Networks.
In its home return, Washington State hosts Utah, Thursday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. and Colorado, Saturday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. The Utah game will air on Fox Sports 1, while the Colorado game will be shown on the Pac-12 Networks.
Following the two-game homestand, WSU hits the road once again to head to Los Angeles for the return games against USC (Thursday, Jan. 28 – 7:30 p.m.) and UCLA (Saturday, Jan. 30 – 4 p.m.). Both of those games are also on Pac-12 Networks.
WSU opens the month of February at home hosting Arizona, Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m., followed by Arizona State, Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m. The next week the Cougars hit the road once again to take on Colorado, Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. PT, followed by a trip to Utah, Sunday, Feb. 14 at noon PT. All four of those games are also on the Pac-12 Networks.
Since the additions of Colorado and Utah to form the Pac-12 in 2012, not all conference schools play each other twice. There is a two-year rotation in which each team will play four teams once, either at home or on the road. This season marks a new rotation after playing Colorado, Utah, California and Stanford just once in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 and Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and USC just once each in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. This season the Cougars will play Oregon and Oregon State just once, at Oregon, and will play Stanford and California just once, at Pullman.
WSU's lone meeting with Stanford will take place at Pullman, Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m., while the only meeting with California is set for Sunday, Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. The only matchups with the Oregon schools happen on the road this season as WSU heads to Eugene, Wednesday, Feb. 24 to take on Oregon at 7 p.m. followed by a trip to Corvallis to face Oregon State, Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m. The Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, while the California game is set to air on ESPNU.
The Cougars conclude their season with the third of three-straight road games, the final one at Washington, Wednesday, March 2. Tip is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
Once again the Pac-12 Tournament will be held at MGM Grand Garden Arena at Las Vegas, March 9-12, with the first seven quarterfinal games being televised on the Pac-12 Networks. One quarterfinal game, one semifinal game and the Pac-12 Championship game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
Cougar season tickets are on sale now. Please visit www.wsucougars.com for more information or to order season tickets.