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Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars Change 2027 Apple Cup Date
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- Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars Change 2027 Apple Cup Date
(Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images)
One of the biggest remaining rivalry games in college football just underwent another change in a recent history of them, it was announced Monday.
The Apple Cup, the annual game between the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars football teams, will take place in August in 2027.
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It was announced Monday that next season's edition of the Apple Cup, the 119th game between the two sides, will take place Aug. 28, 2027, at Gesa Field in Pullman, Wash., the home of the Cougars.
The '27 showdown will mark the third time in four years the game has been moved back.
When Washington moved from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, making the rivalry game a nonconference matchup, the contest was moved back from an end-of-season showdown Nov. 25, 2023, to a Week 3 showdown Sept. 16, 2024.
The 117th Apple Cup was another Week 3 game Sept. 20, 2025, and this year's edition of the game opened the season Sept. 6. The 118th Apple Cup was aired on a Sunday, the first time in the game's history it took place on that, and was aired on NBC and Peacock. UW ultimately won the game 24-10 .
This season' edition of the Apple Cup opened the season, as will next season's.
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Next year's Apple Cup could be the last time fans will have a chance to see the long-running game emanate from WSU's home in Pullman.
The current contract for the home-and-away series between the Cougars and Huskies is set to expire in the 2028 season, which makes the 119th Apple Cup the second-to-last game scheduled under the current deal.
The Apple Cup was first played in 1900. The game has been played nearly every year since with breaks in 1905-06, 1909, 1915-16, 1918, and 1943-44. The game has been played annually with no interruptions since 1945. UW owns the all-time series 78-34-6.
The potential for the Apple Cup ending falls in what's a concering trend of rivalry games behing interrupted across college sports.
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The Washington men's basketball team recently experienced that trend against WSU. For the first time since 1916, the two cross-state will not meet in a men's basketball game in the regular season. The two sides played each other in an exhibition game Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, which the Washington State won 84-80 .
The Huskies have two nonconference games scheduled for 2029-30. However, new rules installed under the expected change to a 24-team College Football Playoff format could limit the team's options in terms of scheduling the Cougars.
When the CFP expands (likely by the 2027 season), it could come with a mandate that Power Four teams will need to have 10 additional Power Four teams on their respective schedules. Currently, the Big Ten only mandates nine in-conference games. Conference commissioner Tony Petitti has indicated Big Ten teams are comfortable adopting the 10-Power Four-opponents rule if the playoff is expanded.
Washington currently has the Tennessee Volunteers, which fits that criteria, on the docket for the '29-30 seasons, which will leave two open slots against non-Power Four opponents.
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In addition to the Apple Cup, UW also has Fresno State and Portland State scheduled for 2027 and Eastern Washignton and UNLV scheduled for 2028. That would mean the team would need to drop either Portland State or Fresno State from its schedule in '27 and UNLV or EWU from its schedule in '28 and add a Power Four team both seasons to fit the criteria and still play the Apple Cup.
In 2029-30, the team currently has Boise State and Hawaii as the nonconference games scheduled in addition to Tennessee, respectively. As it stands, that would fit the mandate of 10 Power Four games with one more nonconference game needed for the schedule. That would allow UW to add WSU to the schedule and keep the Apple Cup going, if the Cougs' schedule permitted.
