Because the Washington Huskies made the decision to leave the Pac-12 in favor of joining the Big Ten (and the Washington State Cougars weren’t able to leave the Pac-12 for somewhere like the Big Ten), the scheduling of the Apple Cup has gotten a bit of a change.
In previous seasons, the Apple Cup, which is one of college football’s oldest rivalries around, would be played at the end of the regular season. It’d take place just before conference championship games and a bit before bowl games.
It was previously played during rivalry week. And to be completely honest, that makes a lot of sense. But with the shifting landscape of college football, that’s just not the case for this rivalry anymore. Thankfully, the rivalry has been preserved even with the way the sport and conference affiliations have changed.
It’s just that the Apple Cup takes place MUCH earlier in the season these days.
The rivalry game that traditionally served as a regular-season finale now takes place in September as a non-conference matchup. It’s a little weird, and it was certainly odd last season when the two teams met up for a neutral site, non-conference game, but it keeps the rivalry alive. And that matters.
When is the 2025 Apple Cup scheduled for?
The Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars will meet up in Pullman, Washington and face off on September 20, 2025 this coming season. During the fourth week of the 2025 college football schedule, UW and WSU will play.
Yeah, again, it’s a little odd that it’s this early, but that’s just life with the way UW got to move to the Big Ten and WSU stayed behind in the Pac-12.
With this game being so early, the atmosphere around the game has admittedly changed a bit. But that doesn’t mean this contest won’t still be intense and that we won’t get used to this new scheduling for the rivalry game. It might just take a little bit of time though.