Eugene is in The Huskies’ Heads

The streak is two years. Two years straight the Washington Huskies have traveled down to Eugene and have lost. Each year UW was the better team on paper, each year the Huskies won at home earlier in the season against Oregon.

However, something about walking onto that court gets into their head. Matthew Knight Arena is daunting, it is huge, looks like a space ship landed in the middle of Eugene. The inside is just as impressive as it seats over 12,000 and feels like an NBA arena. And while many UW fans may not like the design of the court, it definitely isn’t something normal. It has a special design that can only be classified as unique.

This could be a reason, the Huskies are 0-2 on the court but 3-2 overall against Oregon in the last two years. The court itself has a record of 16-6 for the Oregon Ducks but much of that is inflated by a weak non-conference schedule. In the Pac-12; Cal, Oregon State, UCLA, and Stanford have all found wins at Matthew Knight Arena.

Of course, the court isn’t the only reason. There are other reasons like the Huskies have struggled mightily on the road the last couple of season, UW tends to hit a wall at this point in the season, and this team is a young team that seems to play different each time they hit the court.

But there is something to this streak. Both years the Huskies were clearly the better team but seemed to forget that fact once they hit the court. Like Eugene was in their heads.

I was there last season for the first Husky game in the new Oregon arena and to watch the Husky fans get heckled on the way out after a stunning loss was not a pretty picture but it was a reality. The Ducks seemingly find ways to get under the skin of Husky fans and Husky players alike. From their menacing chants to their reluctance to bring up anything before 2008. It frustrates Husky fans but it gets in their head.

This Matthew Knight Arena seems to have that same taunting feeling to the Husky players but it is all in their heads.