SEATTLE — Dear Big Ten football fan,
The drive from Chicago to Seattle spans 30 hours and 2,000 miles, which feel like many more. It's a seven-state expedition along Interstate 90, a methodical western quest. It cuts through the University of Wisconsin (your other UW) and Sioux Falls, S.D., where Kalen DeBoer once made his name. It weaves through corn fields and rivers and quarries — and over the Pac-12's still smoldering ashes — from Lake Michigan to Puget Sound.
This — all of it — is Big Ten Country.
The west has been conquered and claimed.
Which, for a Seattle resident with Big Ten roots, marks a collision between past and present. I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago in the 1990s, an avid football fan. I watched Northwestern make an unlikely Rose Bowl run in 1995, and Illinois follow 12 years later.
(I then watched both be summarily incinerated by USC, another Pac-12 departee.)
I watched Troy Smith and Mike Hart and Paul Posluszny and Rashard Mendenhall and Bob Sanders and Tamba Hali, a bingo card of Big Ten bullies. I watched the conference add Nebraska in 2011 and Maryland and Rutgers three years later, and wondered where it would end.
For much of my life, I was one of you.
I watched from Washington.
In July 2018, I made that 30-hour, 2,000-mile trek to tell stories for The Seattle Times. I've spent the past four seasons on the Husky football beat, covering three coaches ... and now, two conferences.
Which makes me uniquely qualified to introduce your newest member.
So ... what do you need to know?
First, the emphasis goes on "DUB," not "U." You're going to have to get that right.
And yes, it's true, it rains a lot. But don't bring an umbrella.
Instead, pack a pair of ear plugs ... and if you're able, bring a boat.
"Sailgating," after all, is a pregame party without the parking lot. On game days, fans board boats that bob for hours in Husky Harbor, outside of the stadium.
Oh, and speaking of Husky Stadium — it's seen (and heard, and housed) a century of moments. It's where the loudest college football game ever recorded — a 29-14 win over Nebraska — took place in 1992; where USC quarterback Todd Marinovich said, "I saw purple. That's all I saw. No numbers, no faces, just purple," two years prior; where Dante Pettis perfected his punt-return prowess; where Sonny Sixkiller and Bob Schloredt twirled touchdowns; where Hugh McElhenny made his name; where Prince's "Purple Rain" pours out of the home locker room immediately after Washington wins.
Where Michael Penix Jr. set a school record with 4,641 passing yards in his UW debut in 2022.
(Yes, that Michael Penix Jr.)
But since we're on the subject of UW quarterbacks: there are more names you need to know. There's Jake Browning and Keith Price and Jake Locker and Marques Tuiasosopo and the Huard brothers and Mark Brunell and Warren Moon and Don Heinrich, an armada of accomplished arms.
There's also a trophy case containing 17 conference championships, with room for many more. There are bronzed statues of former coaches Don James and Jim Owens — who delivered national titles in 1991 and 1960, respectively — sitting outside the stadium.
For DeBoer — Big Ten be damned — there's a bar to clear.
There's a city, too, to leverage — as UW and Seattle are inextricably linked. There's sunsets that range between 4 and 10 p.m., depending on the season, and a hot-dog culture where cream cheese is king. There's Amazon and Microsoft and Bruce Lee and teriyaki and grunge music and seaplanes and so much more. There's a Fremont troll and more dogs than people. There's a sense of community.
There's also an annual Apple Cup ... or, at least, there was. The Huskies hold a commanding 75-33-6 edge in 114 matchups against in-state rival Washington State, dating all the way back to 1900. But with the Big Ten driving a wedge through Washington, that game may soon be gone.
And on the topic of uneasy issues, there's some subjects to avoid:
— Don't ask whether UW's live mascot, Dubs II, is technically a husky or an Alaskan malamute. Just let the dog be cute!
— Don't bring up the purple helmets. Rather, repeat: they were always gold.
— Don't question if Washington — which finished 11-1 and buried No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl — should have been awarded the national championship in 1984.
— Don't google lyrics to the Huskies' "Say Who?" chant if you're allergic to expletives.
— Don't bring up the Oregon Ducks. Just. Don't. Do. It.
— Don't claim Washington started "The Wave." Why would you want to, anyway?
— Don't reference the "weasel" Husky logo Nike unveiled in 2001.
— Don't mention the Tyrone Willingham Era — or the Montana game, for that matter.
Indeed, it hasn't been all roses for Washington ... but there have been seven Rose Bowl wins. Perhaps, before they bombard the Big Ten in 2024, the Huskies will add another.
After all, this team may have the talent — led by Penix, wide receivers Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, edges Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui, etc. — to earn the program's first College Football Playoff trip since 2016.
But this program is also more than the sum of its play-making parts — or the value of its media market. It was maintained with Chris Petersen's steady leadership and Vita Vea's enveloping arms; with Mario Bailey's mock Heisman pose and Jimmy Lake's dominant DBs; with an air raid siren in the west end zone, serenading every score; with 70,000 football fans woofing under covered grandstands that stretch into the sky.
With enduring support from Seattle — a city this Big Ten kid has learned to love.
You'll see it soon enough.
