‘Necessity to end the season with’: Fisch talks Washington rivalry schedule changes

Washington v Indiana
Washington v Indiana / Justin Casterline/GettyImages
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Washington Husky fans are probably pretty used to ending the regular season each and every year with a classic rivalry game. That’s technically happening once again, even in the midst of all that’s changed with the college football landscape shifting due to conference realignment. 

But, well, this season, the Washington Huskies won’t be ending the regular season by meeting up with the Washington State Cougars in the Apple Cup. If you recall, that particular rivalry matchup happened all the way back in week three when the Huskies and Cougars met in a neutral site game that ended in frustrating fashion for UW. 

That doesn’t mean that there’s not a rivalry game to be played though! This season, Washington is wrapping up the regular season by taking on the Oregon Ducks during rivalry week. Which, you know, kinda works given that the Huskies and Ducks both made the move to the Big Ten.

It might take some getting used to for folks that are used to this program and have been around for a long time. But what about Jedd Fisch, who is relatively new to living in Seattle and all of the intricacies of being a Washington Husky? 

During his press conference earlier this week, Fisch had a chance to chat about this week changing from being centered around the Apple Cup.

Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch addresses Apple Cup scheduling change for UW after conference realignment

“I think it's really good that your conference opponent is your end-of-season game,” Fisch said. “Being the fact that the conference is the Big Ten and Oregon's in the Big Ten and we're in the Big Ten, I think that's a necessity to end the season with.”

And it shouldn’t really surprise anyone that Fisch would take that stance. It’s a fair stance to take, first and foremost, but it also kind of fits with his willingness to adapt to the overarching changes that college football is going through. He doesn’t seem locked in to doing something just for the sake of doing something. 

Fisch also noted a few historic examples that seem pretty comparable here. 

“Just like Michigan-Ohio State, Auburn-Alabama, now Texas-Texas A&M now that they're both in the SEC,” UW’s head coach said.

To be fair, there are also classic rivalries that happen as non-conference games. Florida and Florida State. Kentucky and Louisville. Clemson and South Carolina. Heck, the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are meeting up this week.

But, change happens. And Fisch was able to find the brightside on all of that. There are challenges that come with this, but it’s not unheard of.

“It just makes it challenging that you now have week three or four with another rival, a different instate rivalry game, but Iowa-Iowa State has done it forever and we'll have to learn from them and make sure we handle that game earlier in the season and then this game later,” Fisch said. 

It’s not necessarily the end of the world for the Apple Cup to take place earlier in the season, but it’s going to take some getting used to for a lot of folks. That said, it sounds like Fisch is already pretty much adjusted.

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