College Rivals: The Apple Cup

The Apple Cup is an annual college football game. This game is played against state rivals Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. This game is played, typically, on the last game of the regular season. This is played on one of the two team's fields and alternates every year.

The Cougars usually play at WSU's Martin Stadium. The Huskies play at Husky Stadium. From 1950 to 1980, with the exception of 1954, the Cougars played their games at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

Before these teams played for the Apple Cup, they played for the Governor's Trophy. In 1962, this award was re-named due to Washington's abundant apple crops. Therefore, whoever wins this game is awarded the Apple Cup Trophy.

The exact date this game changes. When the college football season was lengthened to 12 games, the date of the Apple Cup shifted from the weekend before Thanksgiving holiday to the weekend after. In 2006, both teams actually played twelve straight games without a bye week. In 2007, the game was played just two days after Thanksgiving, a first. Boeing has been a new sponsor of this game, joining in 2007.

This rivalry game started in 1900. The first Apple Cup ended in a tie between the University of Washington and the Washington Agricultural College. Including 2008, there have been 101 meetings between these two teams. The Washington Huskies have won 64% of these games, with a record of 64 wins and 31 losses. There have been six ties. The Huskies have won up to eight Apple Cups in a row, while the Cougars have won two in a row on multiple occasions. The Cougars have fared better recently, however. They have won the last four of five meetings and are currently on a two game winning streak against the Huskies.

As mentioned above there have been six ties. These occurred in 1900, 1908, 1932, 1934, 1937, and 1942. Washington has tallied 64 wins and Washington State has tallied 31 wins, as of 2008.

Some recent games may stick out in memory. In 1975, the Huskies came back to beat the Cougars, preventing the Cougars a berth into the Rose Bowl. In 1982, WSU won and denied the Huskies a berth into the Rose Bowl. In 1992, the heavy snowfall turned this game into the "snowbowl". In 1997, the Cougars came from behind to beat the Huskies. This victory made the Cougars co-champions of the Pac-10 and gave them a Rose Bowl berth. In 2002, the Huskies stunned the number 3 Cougars in Pullman in a triple overtime game. In 2003, the Huskies beat the Cougars, beating the top ten ranked Washington Cougars.

Most recently, the 2008 Rose Bowl was a game between the 0-12 Huskies and 2-11 Cougars. The Cougars won in double overtime, 16-13. This game was called the "Crapple Cup" due to the poor performing teams pitted against each other.

Apple Cup, Wikipedia.com