Washington Huskies men release schedule for 2026-27

The Big Ten released its 2026-27 men’s basketball schedule Thursday and for the second straight season, the Washington Huskies will need to survive a brutal stretch in January if they’re going to breakthrough and finish in the top half of the 18-team league.

Following a last-place 4-16 conference finish and 13-18 record during the 2024-25 season — its first year in the Big Ten — UW tied for 12^th at 7-13 last season and was 16-17 overall last season.

Will the third season be the charm for third-year coach Danny Sprinkle and the Huskies?

Here’s a few observations on UW’s 2026-27 schedule.

The Huskies will play their first game at Climate Pledge Arena on Dec. 19 against Baylor, which highlights an otherwise bland slate of seven “home” nonconference games, not including an exhibition versus Washington State on Oct. 25.

Coach Danny Sprinkle will learn a lot about a retooled team that includes nine newcomers at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 23-25, which could put UW against three teams that played in the 2026 NCAA tournament starting with a difficult matchup against BYU.

Not many teams schedule home-and-home series anymore, and it’s interesting to note Washington takes a trip to Utah on Nov. 15 to complete an agreement. UW won 74-65 last season in Seattle.

Nine Big Ten teams appeared in the NCAA tournament last season, so UW’s 20-game conference schedule was never going to be easy. The Huskies play former Pac-12 and regional rivals UCLA, USC and Oregon twice — on the road and at home — and will play one game against the other 16 conference teams.

Washington starts conference play with a couple of December games against the Los Angeles schools, at USC on Dec. 2 and hosting UCLA on Dec. 13.

When the calendar turns, things get serious.

Washington begins 2027 with a difficult road trip against defending national champions Michigan on Jan. 2 and Michigan State on Jan. 5.

Three of the Huskies’ next five games are against teams who made the 2026 NCAA tournament, including home versus Nebraska (Jan. 13) at UCLA (Jan. 16) and at Wisconsin (Jan. 23).

Last season, Washington never recovered from a disastrous 2-6 stretch in January.

At first glance, the middle of UW’s Big Ten schedule appears manageable because of the absence of the conference superpowers and Rutgers and Maryland will make cross-country flights to Seattle.

The Huskies will earn their frequent flyer miles during a nine-game stretch that includes two extended road trips (Wisconsin/Minnesota and Ohio State/Penn State). UW plays six games in six different states between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20.

During its previous two seasons in the Big Ten, Washington is 5-17 in regular-season road games, and has beaten just one team that finished with a winning record.

Washington ends the season with three of four games at home, but the Huskies shouldn’t necessarily expect a warm reception considering two of the matchups are against Illinois (Feb. 23) and Purdue (Feb. 27).

During the 2024-25 season, thousands of Illini and Boilermakers fans flooded Alaska Airlines Arena, which turned the 9,268-seat venue into hostile setting for the home team

The Huskies make a tough trip to Iowa on March 2 before the regular-season home finale at Oregon.