ESPN.com polled 100 college basketball players from around the nation for their College Basketball Confidential segment, which asks a wide variety of question on numerous topics.

It is an anonymous poll, so I can't tell you any details about who was answering these questions, but the Huskies received some notice on several questions.

The one which they received the most love on was: Which school has the biggest homecourt advantage? Three percent polled said Washington, which tied for 9th on the list. The three who voted for the Huskies were Pac-10 players. One player even went as far to say:

Washington is a brutal road game because of fans' computer skills. "They had some Photoshopped pictures of our point guard and coach doing stuff -- like, weird stuff," says one player. "They were so professional, I thought they were real for a minute."

The NCAA released its annual report of graduation success rates among Division I instititions and, once again, the University of Washington showed it ranks second in the Pac-10 and second among all public institutions on the West Coast.  Washington's football federal graduation rate is just two percent shy of the rate for all Division I student-athletes.  For the complete story and links to the NCAA reports, visit this piece posted yesterday on GoHuskies.com.  The Associated Press also wrote a good story on the topic, which you can find here.

A couple of facts that were not widely reported included the graduation success rate (GSR) among football programs in the Pac-10.  Among scholarship athletes, the Huskies rate second in the league in both graduation success rate and the four-year rolling federal graduation rate average.  Below is a chart showing how the UW fares against league rivals.

School	GSR	Fed Rate
Stanford	89	85
Washington	69	61
California	64	57
Washington State	62	58
Arizona State	58	49
USC	58	52
Oregon State	57	43
UCLA	51	40
Oregon	49	45
Arizona	41	35

A couple of other key facts that the report revealed about the academic success of various UW sports programs:

 

• The graduation rate for UW scholarship student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility at the school during this reporting period was an impressive 90 percent.  A total of 503 student-athletes fit into this category.
• Six UW sports achieved a GSR of 100 percent:  Men's golf, women's basketball, women's golf, women's soccer, softball and women's tennis.
• 10 of the 18 sports calculated (men's crew is not a NCAA sport and track/cross country are counted as one sport. The discontinued swimming program is also included), achieved a GSR of 90 percent or better.

In the final 10 days leading up to the 2009 Apple Cup between in-state rivals Washington and Washington State, GoHuskies.com is taking a look at 10 of the top Apple Cup plays since 1950.  These moments were selected by Husky fans as some of the great memories in UW Apple Cup history.

Today, we look at countdown videos #2 and #3:

#2  Apple Cup, 1960
Late in the fourth quarter of the 1960 Apple Cup, Bob Hivner hit Don McKeta in the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Dawgs the 8-7 lead after Kermit Jorgenson scored on a QB sneak. The game would end with the same score and UW would go on to beat No. 1 Minnesota in the Rose Bowl.

Watch Hivner to McKeta

 

#3  Apple Cup, 1974
In the 1974 Apple Cup, Husky quarterback Dennis Fitzpatrick ran wild all over Washington State. He rushed for a UW quarterback record 249 yards and led the Huskies to a 24-17 victory in what would be head coach Jim Owens' last game leading the Dawgs.

Watch Fitzpatrick run wild

 

Countdown the Top 10 Husky Plays in Apple Cup history with us. We'll add a new highlight video to the list every day until Apple Cup game day on Nov. 28. Click here to view all the videos to date.

A limited number of tickets remain available for the Nov. 28, 2009 Apple Cup.  Call the Husky Ticket Office at (206) 543-2200 for more information and to purchase tickets.

Wednesday's KING-5 sports feature on senior Katie Follett is up online now for those who may have missed it. Lisa Gangel came out and met the Huskies for an early morning run through the nature preserve behind Husky Ballpark before the sun even threatened to show up. Don't be deceived by the enhanced light in the shots of the team running, it was pretty dark out there!

Watch the full segment here.

Former Husky All-American and Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo was featured on the cover of this month's Athletic Business magazine.

The magazine is a resource for athletic, fitness and recreation professionals. This issue examines the Women's Pro Soccer league, which just ended its inaugural season recently. The article, in which Solo is mentioned as being one of the league's most recognizable stars, examines how the league plans to grow in year two and beyond.

Solo was a big part of the first season, teaming up with another former Husky, Tina Ellertson (Frimpong), to lead the Saint Louis Athletica into the WPS semifinals. Both Solo and Ellertson were named to the first-ever WPS All-Star team and Solo was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year.

 

Emptying out our notebook from the Huskies 67-66 win last night.

During her post-game press conference, coach Tia Jackson took a moment to relay a scene from a meeting earlier that morning among the athletic dept. staff at the University of Washington.

What stuck with her was a speech from cross-country/track coach Greg Metcalf, who discussed the motivational tactics he used to spur some tired runners at the Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach, Calif. His message was that, essentially, you just had to get the job done.

"He said good teams figure out a way to win," Jackson said. "And (tonight), our ladies were good, and we figured out a way to win. It's a different feeling for us, and I know it's something we're going to grow accustomed to."

Jackson thought of the message when she saw her team down nine points late in the game to BYU, a team who had done everything right against the Huskies. Their full-court press created turnovers. Their four-out, one-in offense drew up wide-open 3-pointers. Yet, the Huskies had a chance at the end of the game, and Sami Whitcomb capitalized with a late 3-pointer to win.

Here's some stats from the Pac-10

• Whitcomb is second in the conference in scoring 23.5 points per game, behind Oregon's Taylor Lilley. She's also 8th in the Pac-10 in field-goal percentage, shooting at a nice .600 clip.
• Sarah Morton is third in the conference in assists with six per game.
  
• Mackenzie Argens is fourth in the league with 2.5 blocks per game.
  

In the final 10 days leading up to the 2009 Apple Cup between in-state rivals Washington and Washington State, GoHuskies.com is taking a look at 10 of the top Apple Cup plays since 1950.  These moments were selected by Husky fans as some of the great memories in UW Apple Cup history.

Today, we look at the first countdown video in the series.

 

#1: 1950 Cup, Apple Cup
The Huskies rolled to a 52-21 victory in Spokane thanks to Hugh McElhenny, who rushed for a school record 296 yards and five TD's. He capped his day with an 84-yard TD run and pushed his season rushing total to 1,107 yards - a conference record at the time.

Watch McElhenny Roll

 

Countdown the Top 10 Husky Plays in Apple Cup history with us. We'll add a new highlight video to the list every day until Apple Cup game day on Nov. 28. Click here to view all the videos to date.

A limited number of tickets remain available for the Nov. 28, 2009 Apple Cup.  Call the Husky Ticket Office at (206) 543-2200 for more information and to purchase tickets.

The Washington women's basketball team was dealt some unfortunate news this week when team doctors recommended Lydia Young have surgery on her ailing right knee. The senior forward has not played this season because of tendinitis.

Here's Coach Tia Jackson on the injury to Young:

"We never want to see any of our players go down to injury, and it saddens all of us that Lydia has suffered a knee condition that will not allow her to successfully participate at this level. In the upcoming weeks, she will undergo a surgical procedure to promote the long-term health of her knee, but regrettably, she will not be returning to competitive basketball. Lydia has a great medical team here at the University of Washington and a Husky family offering her tremendous support during this difficult time. We know Lydia is terribly disappointed that she cannot continue on the court during her senior year, but we intend to use her leadership, experience and enthusiasm to help guide the team through the rest of the season."

The city of Seattle is never short of fun no matter what season it is. The Seattle summer brought good times in the sun and on the water. Seafair and Bumbershoot rocked it this year with record temperature highs of 103.

The Seattle winter brings more fun and games as we move from the 15th largest city in America to the surrounding snow-capped mountains. Ski and snowboard enthusiasts are rejoicing because the slopes are already open in Washington. Student favorite, Summit at Snoqualmie, is less than 40 miles from campus...meaning you can make your 8 AM class and be hitting the slopes by 10!

Here are a few other options close to campus:

Summit at Snoqualmie (40 miles from campus)

Stevens Pass (80 miles from campus)

Crystal Mountain (85 miles from campus)

 Mt. Baker (87 miles from campus)

White Pass (115 miles from campus)

 

 

The Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada this year. That's only a two and a half hour drive away from Seattle! Let's put that in perspective.

Summer Olympics 2012: London. 14 hours of travel time. At least.

Winter Olympics 2014: Russia. Going out on a limb here (not really) and saying another 14+ hours.

Summer Olympics 2016: Rio de Janeiro. Taking a wild guess and estimating longer than 14 hours of travel time...

 

That being said, it's going to be at least another 8 years before you have a chance to travel a movie length away to witness one of the world's greatest sporting events.

So for those of you that live in Seattle, make the trip. Don't live in this great city yet? Make the trip up and spend a few days in Sea-town while you're on the your way to (or from) the Olympics. Check out our beautiful campus, breathe our crisp clean air, hit the slopes and visit the world-renowned Pike's Place Market - all great things you've heard about but have never had the chance to experience. 

Now to point you in the right direction:

Airlines flying into Seattle

Places to Stay in Seattle

Vancouver by car

Vancouver by train

Vancouver by cruise