Mayors of Spokane, Columbia make flag wager on Gonzaga’s Final Four matchup

The Gonzaga basketball team won’t just be playing for a national championship berth Saturday, they’ll also be trying to hoist their flag in the hometown of their opponent.

Mayors David Condon of Spokane and Stephen Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, announced a friendly wager Friday that will have the winning team’s flag flying above their opponent’s City Hall following Saturday’s game. The mayors released statements ribbing each other ahead of Saturday’s 3:09 p.m. tip.

“Congratulations to South Carolina on a great season. We’re excited to share the first Final Four for each of our cities with you,” Condon said. “We look forward to seeing the Gonzaga University flag fly victoriously over City Hall in Columbia, S.C.”

“Both our men’s and women’s basketball teams have had an incredible and historic run in this year’s tournament,” said Benjamin. “We congratulate Gonzaga on a great season, but our Gamecocks are on a roll. The USC flag is already on its way to Spokane.”

It’s not the first time a Spokane mayor has made a bet with the Bulldogs’ opponent. In the 2001 tournament, Mayor John Powers bet the mayor of East Lansing, Michigan, the Zags would defeat the Michigan State Spartans in the Sweet Sixteen. The Spartans were a 1 seed, Gonzaga an upset-minded 12 seed.

Michigan State won the game, 77-62, and Powers was forced to fly the Spartans’ flag above downtown. The Spartans lost in the Final Four that year to Arizona, which then lost to Duke in the national championship game.

Luckily, the Michigan State flag is a white “S” on a green background. Powers joked at the time that Spokane had received a new flag. Should Spokane lose the wager, it will be difficult for Condon to make a similar claim about the Gamecocks’ flag, which features a rooster in profile surrounded by a large black “C.”

The wager calls for the winner’s flag to fly above City Hall for a day, according to a news release from the mayor’s office Friday.