Enjoy Today’s Apples: The Washington-WSU Rivalry Days May Be Numbered
They wouldn’t kill the Apple Cup, would they?
College football has seen many changes over the past few years, leaving a long list of uncertain things. And, yes, one of those is the future of the Apple Cup.
While it seems absurd to end a 125-year-old rivalry and number the days of a game that will be played for the 117th time today, there’s no certainty of Washington and Washington State playing beyond a contract that runs through 2028. Tradition — the lifeblood of college football — is being tossed aside on a regular basis for revenue college presidents and athletic directors feel is necessary to compete with the big boys for relevance, College Football Playoff appearances and national titles.
“College football is changing constantly,” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said Thursday. “Decisions are being made by conference commissioners and television networks on who you can play and who you can’t play. But our focus is we’ve got — right now — the Apple Cup ahead of us on Saturday.
“They have the trophy. We don’t. That’s our focus.”
The dollars and home-game math puts the Apple Cup future in jeopardy. Washington relies on the revenue from getting as close as it can to filling 70,000 seats at Husky Stadium seven times per year. With nine Big Ten games, that math gets a little tricky. In odd years, including 2025 and 2027, UW has five home conference games, which allows for a non-league road game at WSU.
However, it essentially takes home-and-home series against other Power 4 opponents off the table. You can get the Northern Colorados of the world to play one-offs in Seattle, but larger-profile programs expect a return visit from the Huskies. There’s a segment of fans that would prefer those types of games over the Apple Cup.
The appetite for the UW-WSU game varies, and ardent fans of each program have mixed feelings. Some believe the rivalry died with the traditional Pac-12 after the 2023 season. Others want to keep one of college football’s longest-tenured matchups alive. For many, there’s still a passion for the game, and perhaps even a hatred for their cross-state rival.
As Huskies right guard and Ferndale, Washington native Geirean Hatchett said, sometimes those rivalries are found within one household.
“The house is torn in half,” said Hatchett, who will start next to his brother, center Landen Hatchett, today. “Lots of people in Washington state are Wazzu fans. Lots of people are UW fans. A lot of it is just in-state rivalry stuff. I’d probably explain it like that. Just a big in-state rivalry. Always a big game, no matter what. Every year.”
Sometimes, it’s money issues that cause friction in relationships. That’s no different for the two teams involved in the tenuous Apple Cup marriage.
WSU could use the income of a UW visit to Pullman every two years, while Washington eyes greener pastures against programs like Tennessee of the SEC The Huskies are currently scheduled to play the Volunteers in 2029 and 2030. If those games hold up, is Washington willing to play just six home games with visits to Pullman and Knoxville in 2029?
As conferences continue to change — and who knows what’ll happen as new TV deals start in the early 2030s — rivalries involving non-conference schools will become harder and harder to schedule in ink. The “Iron Skillet” rivalry, which dates back to 1915, will end for the foreseeable future after today’s game. The calendars just don’t work.
It won’t be the last rivalry game to disappear.
Oregon and Oregon State will not play in 2026 in the game previously known as the Civil War, though there’s talk of the matchup being scheduled for the short term beginning in 2027.
So, what does all this mean for the future of the Apple Cup? If I had to guess — and this is just a guess as WSU and UW brass are very tight-lipped on the matter — the rivalry will take a year off in 2029 and be played again for at least a home-and-home in 2030-31. Let’s not make any wild predictions after that point, as who knows what the 2030s will bring for college football. There could be massive realignment again, which could mean UW and WSU never play again — or that both schools somehow find their way into the NFC West.
You never know.
So enjoy this Apple Cup like it’s your last. It won’t be, but who knows how many we all have left?
