| Sport | College football |
|---|---|
| Location | Pacific Northwest |
| First meeting | 1903 |
| Stadiums | Autzen Stadium Reser Stadium Husky Stadium Martin Stadium |
| Trophy | None |
| Statistics | |
| All-time series | Washington, 33 Oregon, 16 Oregon State, 12 Washington State, 6 |
| Largest victory | Oregon, 172–62 (2008) |
| Longest win streak | Oregon, 7 (2008–2014) |
| Current win streak | Washington, 2 (2022–present) |
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]
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RallyingCrywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Welsch, Jeff (January 2003). Tales from Oregon State Sports. Sports Publishing. pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-1-58261-706-0. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
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NeuheiselInventedNorthwestChampionshipwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Thamel, Pete. "Oregon, Washington officially leave Pac-12 for Big Ten". ESPN. ESPN Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2023.