Washington State starts unexpected feud with Nebraska Cornhuskers fans

Despite the fact that Nebraska Cornhuskers found their new president and athletic director just a week after Trev Alberts left, there are some fans that are still a little jumpy. That’s the likely explanation for a little rivalry that unexpectedly erupted on social media on Wednesday morning.

When the Washington State Cougars’ official Twitter/X account posted a graphic talking about their basketball team heading to Omaha for their opening game in the NCAA Tournament, they likely didn’t think it would get the reaction it did. For the most part, it was standard fare.

But what triggered several Nebraska-based fans was the inclusion of the field surrounding the CHI Health Center, where the NCAA Tournament games will be played in Omaha at the end of this week and weekend. 

It triggered so many Nebraska Cornhuskers and Creighton Bluejays fans that Washington State later had to issue another tweet a few hours later.

“Hello angry Nebraska fans,” the post started. “Our team mantra is #WheatfieldUnderdogs. This is because our county produces more wheat than any other in the country. Ag schools gotta look out for each other, not tear each other down.”

While some didn’t take the explanation at face value and believed that Washington State was making excuses, a really good look at the original post does seem to fit the narrative. The field surrounding CHI is clearly not a corn field. It is obviously one filed with wheat.

Nebraska Cornhuskers fans overreact a little

While it does appear that there was some overreaction to the post, Nebraska and Creighton fans have an excuse. There have been other allusions to Omaha and Lincoln being far more “rural” than they really are from teams in other parts of the country.

It’s also not like Washington State comes to town all that often. It’s not a huge leap to think they wouldn’t know much about Omaha, a metro area that has more than 1 million people in it.

It also just a bad time for misunderstandings in and about Nebraska. There are plenty of Husker fans who still feel a certain type of way about Trev Alberts, even if his replacement is ready to get to work Friday.

This particular rivalry, which sparked up out of nowhere, seems to be more about sensitivity and grudges that have little to do with the people involved.

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