Apple Cup: WSU and Washington agree to continue series after Pac-12 breaks apart

The Evergreen State rivals, which first met in 1900, signed a multi-year agreement

Following the Pac-12’s dissolution on Sunday, the Washington schools announced an agreement to continue the Apple Cup, ushering in a new era for an ancient West Coast football rivalry.

The Cougars and Huskies agreed to a five-year agreement that will begin with a neutral-field game next season, followed by four home-and-home games.

Washington will join the Big Ten in 2024, while WSU will join the Pac-12 with Oregon State in 2024 — an unprecedented two-team conference allowed under NCAA rules.

Lumen Field, the Seattle Seahawks’ home stadium, will host the Apple Cup game on September 14, 2024.

The games in 2025 and 2027 will be held in Pullman, while the games in 2026 and 2028 will be held at Husky Stadium.

The dates for 2025-28 have not been set, but due to Washington’s commitment to Big Ten games in October and November, the series will most likely be played in September.

Apple Cup games played in Seattle will be owned by the Big Ten’s media partners (Fox, NBC, and CBS) as part of UW’s contract with the conference.

The Pullman games will be part of the Pac-12 media rights package sold by Washington State and Oregon State.

The revenue from the Lumen Field game is expected to be split evenly between the Cougars and Huskies; the other four games will be treated as regular non-conference home games, with the host keeping the gate receipts.

The talks between WSU and the Huskies accelerated after Troy Dannen was named UW’s athletic director in October, following a search to replace Jen Cohen, who accepted the same position at USC prior to the season.

The 2024 matchup proved contentious. According to the current site rotation, it was supposed to be in Pullman, but the Big Ten schedule prevented UW from playing a road game.

Chuck Arnold, president of the Seattle Seahawks, suggested a neutral-field option.

“This wouldn’t be happening next year without him,” a source says.

The other traditional Pacific Northwest rivalry that has been thrown into disarray by the Pac-12’s demise, Oregon State’s annual meeting with Oregon, is also expected to continue into the next era, though no formal announcement has been made.

In 2024, Washington will play nine Big Ten games, as well as non-conference games against Eastern Michigan, Weber State, and Washington State.

The annual clash between Washington and Oregon has been moved to the final Saturday of the season, which has traditionally been reserved for conference rivalries.

Washington State’s schedule is in flux as the Cougars and Oregon State battle for Pac-12 supremacy and plan to compete as a two-team league.

The schools are attempting to work out a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West that would provide each team with six games in the 2024-25 seasons.

WSU and OSU already have several non-conference games under contract, and they will play each other at least once, and possibly twice, if a home-and-home series is required to fill out the 12-game schedule.