Battle in Seattle

The ten year anniversary of the State Farm Battle in Seattle will take place at KeyArena December 15, 2012 when the Gonzaga Bulldogs take on the Kansas State Wildcats.

The event marks just the third all time meeting between the two teams, with K-State winning each of the previous contests. The two teams last faced each other Nov 22, 2010 in the semifinal of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, with the Wildcats defeating the Zags 81-64. The first meeting came on March 22, 1994 in Manhattan, KS where Kansas State knocked off Gonzaga, 66-64, in the 2nd round of the Postseason NIT.

Both schools reached the round of 32 in the East Region of last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs routed West Virginia before falling to 2nd seeded Ohio State, 73-66. Kansas State defeated Southern Mississippi in their opening game but then lost to #1 seed Syracuse, 75-59.

Kansas State will have a new head coach in 2012-13, but he will be no stranger to the State Farm Battle in Seattle. Bruce Weber will be the first opposing coach to return to the sidelines of the annual neutral game, having coached Illinois to a 73-61 victory in the 2010 event.

“This is a great opportunity to test our team against one of the best in the country in a great venue,” said head coach Weber. “Mark (Few) has built Gonzaga into an annual NCAA Tournament contender and he will again have another strong club in 2012-13. I think these types of games are a huge benefit to your team especially to a veteran club like we have coming back in the fall.”

Throughout its history, the State Farm Battle in Seattle games have been among the largest college basketball games in the state of Washington. In 2008, the game set the State’s attendance record for a regular season college basketball game with a sold out crowd of 16,763 who witnessed the Bulldogs play against the Connecticut Huskies. Mark Few and company have compiled a 5-4 record in State Farm Battle in Seattle games.