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Northwest Championship

Northwest Championship
Oregon Ducks
Oregon State Beavers
Washington Huskies
Washington State Cougars
SportCollege football
LocationPacific Northwest
First meeting1903
StadiumsAutzen Stadium
Reser Stadium
Husky Stadium
Martin Stadium
TrophyNone
Statistics
All-time seriesWashington, 33
Oregon, 16
Oregon State, 12
Washington State, 6
Largest victoryOregon, 172–62 (2008)
Longest win streakOregon, 7 (2008–2014)
Current win streakWashington, 2 (2022–present)
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
200km
125miles
Washington State
Washington
Oregon State
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Oregon
Locations of Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State

The Northwest Championship was an unofficial[1] Division I FBS football rivalry series title earned by way of an undefeated sweep[2][3] of the other three fellow Pac-12 teams located in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington.

Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State first played each other in a round-robin format in the 1903 season.[4] As geographic neighbors and members of the former Pacific Coast Conference and current Pac-12 Conference North Division, each team has generally played the others annually.[5] Among the Ducks, Beavers, Huskies, and Cougars there exist three traditional football rivalries: Oregon–Oregon State, Oregon–Washington, and Washington–Washington State.

The feat's "Northwest Championship" moniker was coined by Rick Neuheisel, head coach of the 2002 Washington Huskies.[2][6][7] After a string of disappointing losses, he challenged his players to win the newly conceived title by defeating their northwest rivals in the season's remaining games.[8] The title is not without precedence though as the 1897 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team, precursors to the Oregon State Beavers, declared themselves "Champions of the Northwest" after defeating both Washington and Oregon, though they did not play Washington State that season.[9]

The Northwest Championship has been described as a "so-called",[10] "fictitious",[3] and "mythical"[11][12][13] title, invented by Neuheisel only to motivate his 2002 team.[14] Nevertheless, in the years following the Huskies' original claim of the title, other teams have continued to be cited as winning the Northwest Championship upon completing the sweep.[3][13] Due to Oregon and Washington's departure to the Big Ten as part of the 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment, even though the Apple Cup and Civil War will continue, the Northwest Championship is unlikely to continue unless games between Oregon and Washington State or between Oregon State and Washington are scheduled in future seasons.[15]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference UnofficialNorthwestChampionship was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NewGoalSweepLastThreeGames was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference OregonStateBaggedFictitious was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Since1903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference DawgsVsTheNorthwest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference GeniusCreation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference SonnySixkillerTales was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference RallyingCry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Welsch, Jeff (January 2003). Tales from Oregon State Sports. Sports Publishing. pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-1-58261-706-0. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference SoCalledNorthwestChampionship was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference MythicalNorthwestTitle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference IdahoDeserveSpot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BothTeamsAreGoingFor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference NeuheiselInventedNorthwestChampionship was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Thamel, Pete. "Oregon, Washington officially leave Pac-12 for Big Ten". ESPN. ESPN Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2023.

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