Apple Cup in August? Spike says the historic rivalry is losing its magic

Next year’s Apple Cup rivalry between the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars has been moved to Aug. 28. The 119th meeting between the two rivals will be played in August for the first time ever. Spike O’Neill, host of the “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, lamented how it changes the stakes for both sides.

“What made the beauty of the Apple Cup was sometimes everything was on the line,” Spike reflected. “Your team could be having the season to end all seasons, and here comes the Huskies to play spoiler. The ability to spoil your rival’s season was almost as valuable as winning the conference.”

Instant classics

The Apple Cup was traditionally played after Thanksgiving to conclude the regular season when the Huskies and Cougars were both in the Pac-12, but it has switched to an early-season matchup since UW moved to the Big Ten in 2024. WSU and Oregon State were left to rebuild the Pac-12 with new teams. The annual matchup is no longer a conference game, which means it falls on both schools to work together on future meetings.

Fill-in host Greg Tomlin pointed out that in addition to lower stakes, he’ll miss watching the teams battle in freezing temperatures.

“It saddens me to think we won’t have those games in wazoo (WSU) where there’s two feet of snow, and a really good Washington team versus a really bad Washington team, and it just comes down to the last play of the game,” Greg mused.

The Huskies have won the last two Apple Cup games over the Cougars, while WSU won in 2024 when the game was played at the neutral location of Seattle’s Lumen Field. Next year’s matchup will be in Pullman, before returning to Seattle in 2028. No agreement is in place to continue the rivalry in 2029 and beyond.

An uncertain future

Fans can look south for a textbook example of the Apple Cup’s uncertain future. Oregon and Oregon State’s football teams are skipping their annual matchup for the first time since 1944 after negotiations fell apart. This year’s resurgent Beavers would have had a great opportunity to upset the struggling Ducks, as Spike couldn’t resist pointing out.

“By the way Oregon lost on Saturday at Illinois, falling to four and three, and fired their offensive coordinator,” Spike quipped. “It doesn’t matter to me. I got no money, I got no skin in the game, but I just loved seeing it.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3