Northwest Championship


The Northwest Championship was an unofficial Division I FBS football rivalry series title earned by way of an undefeated sweep of the other three fellow Pac-12 teams located in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington. The Washington Huskies won 33 "championships" of the region, just one shy of the 34 won by the other three programs combined.
Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State first played each other in a round-robin format in the 1903 season. 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. 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. 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. 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.
The Northwest Championship has been described as a "so-called", "fictitious", and "mythical" title, invented by Neuheisel only to motivate his 2002 team. 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. 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.

Teams

The Northwest Championship involved the four Pacific Northwest teams that played football in the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State generally played each other annually in a 6-game round-robin series. Three of the six games were heated rivalry games, and all of the games represented some of the most-played college football series.
Since its introduction, it has been unclear if other football schools in the Pacific Northwest are eligible to win the Northwest Championship. Washington beat Idaho in 2002, but they were not mentioned in Neuheisel's conception of the title. Boise State beat Oregon in 2008 and 2009, years where Oregon swept its in-conference northwest foes, and has been mentioned as potentially deserving a spot in the series.

2002 Origin

In his fourth year as head coach, Neuheisel's 2002 team was floundering. In early November they had a 4–5 record, 1–4 against Pac-10 opponents, and had lost 4 of the last 5 games. The Huskies were at serious risk of a losing season, their first since 1976, and of missing a bowl game.
Through rare happenstance, Washington was scheduled to play the three other Pacific Northwest schools in order to end the season. Neuheisel, sensing an opportunity to motivate his team, declared that despite the thus far disappointing season the Huskies were still fighting to win the "Northwest Championship" by sweeping Oregon State, Oregon, and Washington State in their remaining games.
It was a successful rallying cry, and the Huskies first beat Oregon State. The next week they won at Autzen Stadium, their first win against Oregon at home since 1996. The Huskies capped the season with a triple-overtime victory in Pullman over No. 3 Washington State in the Apple Cup, claiming the Northwest Championship with back-to-back-to-back wins over the other northwest schools.

Trophy

No trophy is awarded to the Northwest Champion, and no organization grants the title.
In 2002, the Huskies wore homemade t-shirts to mark their progress towards the Northwest Championship. The football undershirts had three blank boxes labeled for the other northwest schools, which the players checked off after each win.

Results

The Washington Huskies were successful in claiming the newly coined Northwest Championship in 2002. Since then, Oregon and Oregon State have both also won the title and been called Northwest Champions by local media. Washington State has yet to complete the sweep in the years since the title was named, but several times has been on the hunt going into the end-of-season Apple Cup. The Washington Huskies swept the northwest schools for the final time in 2023, on the way to a 14–1 season.
Historical results have been compiled for prior years by the school athletic departments, local media, and fans of the football programs.
The four teams first met in a six-game round-robin fashion in the 1903 season. This was also the first season in which any of the teams played all three of the others.
SeasonNorthwest ChampionGame 1Game 2Game 3
1903'5–0 Oregon Agricultural10–0 Washington Agricultural6–5 Oregon
1904
1905
1906*
1907*
1908
1909*
1910
1911'34–0 Oregon Agricultural29–3 Oregon30–6 Washington State
1912'9–3 Oregon Agricultural30–14 Oregon19–0 Washington State
1913'47–0 Oregon Agricultural10–7 Oregon20–0 Washington State
1914
1915*
1916
1917'26–3 Oregon6–0 Oregon Agricultural14–0 Washington
1918*
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923'14–0 Oregon Agricultural24–7 Washington State26–7 Oregon
1924
1925*
1926
1927*
1928
1929*
1930*
1931*
1932*
1933*
1934
1935*
1936'19–7 Oregon State7–0 Oregon40–0 Washington State
1937
1938'13–6 Washington7–6 Washington State14–0 Oregon
1939'13–7 Washington13–0 Washington State19–14 Oregon
1940'10–0 Oregon19–0 Oregon State33–9 Washington State
1941
1942
1943*
1944*
1945
1946'13–12 Washington State13–0 Oregon21–12 Washington
1947'6–0 Washington12–6 Washington State14–6 Oregon State
1948'33–7 Washington State13–7 Washington10–0 Oregon State
1949'7–3 Washington35–6 Washington State20–10 Oregon
1950'35–6 Oregon State27–12 Oregon52–21 Washington State
1951'26–13 Oregon State41–6 Oregon27–25 Washington
1952'49–0 Oregon38–13 Oregon State33–27 Washington State
1953
1954'26–7 Washington26–14 Washington State33–14 Oregon State
1955
1956
1957
1958'6–0 Oregon7–0 Oregon State18–14 Washington
1959'13–12 Oregon13–6 Oregon State20–0 Washington State
1960'30–29 Oregon State7–6 Oregon8–7 Washington State
1961'14–6 Washington State3–0 Washington6–2 Oregon
1962
1963'34–7 Oregon State26–19 Oregon16–0 Washington State
1964'9–7 Washington24–7 Washington State7–6 Oregon
1965'24–20 Oregon28–21 Oregon State27–9 Washington State
1966'41–13 Washington State24–12 Washington20–15 Oregon
1967
1968'35–21 Washington16–8 Washington State41–19 Oregon
1969'10–6 Washington38–3 Washington State10–7 Oregon
1970'29–20 Oregon State25–13 Oregon43–25 Washington State
1971
1972'31–14 Oregon37–7 Oregon State27–10 Washington
1973'21–14 Oregon13–7 Oregon State52–26 Washington
1974'23–9 Washington17–3 Washington State35–16 Oregon
1975'27–17 Oregon35–7 Oregon State28–27 Washington State
1976'24–12 Oregon State14–7 Oregon51–32 Washington State
1977'54–0 Oregon14–6 Oregon State35–15 Washington State
1978'34–0 Oregon State20–14 Oregon38–8 Washington State
1979'21–17 Oregon41–0 Oregon State17–7 Washington State
1980'34–10 Washington20–10 Washington State40–21 Oregon State
1981'17–3 Oregon56–17 Oregon State23–10 Washington State
1982
1983'24–7 Oregon27–9 Oregon State17–6 Washington
1984'19–7 Oregon State17–10 Oregon38–29 Washington State
1985
1986'38–3 Oregon28–12 Oregon State44–23 Washington State
1987'29–22 Washington31–17 Washington State44–0 Oregon State
1988
1989'20–14 Oregon51–14 Oregon State20–9 Washington State
1990*
1991'29–7 Oregon58–6 Oregon State56–21 Washington State
1992
1993'21–6 Oregon28–21 Oregon State26–3 Washington State
1994
1995'26–7 Washington State24–22 Washington12–10 Oregon State
1996'33–14 Oregon42–3 Oregon State31–24 Washington State
1997
1998
1999'34–20 Oregon47–21 Oregon State24–14 Washington State
2000
2001
2002 †'41–29 Oregon State42–14 Oregon29–26 Washington State
2003'38–17 Oregon State42–10 Oregon27–19 Washington State
2004'29–14 Washington38–19 Washington State50–21 Oregon
2005'45–21 Washington34–31 Washington State56–14 Oregon State
2006
2007'29–23 Washington52–17 Washington State38–31 Oregon
2008'45–10 Washington63–14 Washington State65–38 Oregon State
2009'52–6 Washington State43–19 Washington37–33 Oregon State
2010'43–23 Washington State53–16 Washington37–20 Oregon State
2011'43–28 Washington State34–17 Washington49–21 Oregon State
2012'51–26 Washington State52–21 Washington48–24 Oregon State
2013'45–24 Washington62–38 Washington State36–35 Oregon State
2014'38–31 Washington State45–20 Washington47–19 Oregon State
2015
2016'70–21 Oregon41–17 Oregon State45–17 Washington State
2017'42–7 Oregon State38–3 Oregon41–14 Washington State
2018
2019'35–31 Washington37–35 Washington State24–10 Oregon State
2020
2021'26–16 Washington38–24 Washington State38–29 Oregon State
2022'24–21 Oregon State37–34 Oregon51–33 Washington State
202336–33 Oregon22–20 Oregon State24–21 Washington State
2024*
2025*

* Years in which no sweep was possible due to no single team playing all three of the others.
Number of games played, of the possible 6-game round-robin series. If no annotation, all 6 games were played.
The series was disrupted by World War II, with only Washington fielding a team in 1943 and 1944. In 1945 each team played the others twice, for a total of 12 games.
After winning the Northwest Championship in the regular season, Washington also won their rematch with Oregon in the 2023 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.
† The "Northwest Championship" name was coined in 2002.
TeamSweeps
Washington33
Oregon16
Oregon State12
Washington State6

TeamStreak
Oregon7
Washington5
Oregon State2
Washington State2