The Evergreen State Rivalry

Those who live in Washington State know this rivalry very well. It has been decades in the making and is one of the most storied rivalries in all of college. Those outside the state have only heard rumors, people who have just come to Washington State will soon know of it and the people who live here know this rivalry very well. Separated by a thin line known as the Cascade Mountains, on one side you have the University of Washington Huskies and on the other side you have the Washington State University Cougars. Both are excellent schools but in the end only the University of Washington Huskies will be left standing.

It happens every year for high school students, time to choose a college to attend. In Washington State most students will choose between the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU). The UW is located on the Western side of Washington State in the city of Seattle and was founded in 1861. Since its founding the UW has grown into a very well known university. It is now made up of 3 different campuses with the main one being in Seattle and the other 2 being in Bothell, Washington and Tacoma Washington. Students come from all around the world to attend the UW. In 2009 the freshman class was little over 5,000 students strong which represented 44 states and 27 different countries. (admit.washington.edu/numbers) WSU is located on the Eastern side of the state in Pullman Washington and was founded in 1890. WSU has 4 different campuses around the state. The main campus is in Pullman, Washington with the other 3 being located in Vancouver, Tri-cities and Spokane. Thou not as big, WSU freshman enrollment for 2009 was little over 3500 students. (http://www.ir.wsu.edu/docs/wsufacts.pdf) For the new people this is where the rivalry begins, but for those who grew up in this state this has been a ongoing process and for most it comes down to one thing, athletics.

For as long as the two universities have existed there has been a lot of heat between the athletic programs and specifically the football programs. The UW has for the most part always had one of the best football programs in the nation. The Rose bowl and Orange bowl are 2 of the nation’s highest football title games, both are right below the national championship. The Huskies have won the Rose bowl eight times and won the Orange bowl once. On top of that the football program has also won 2 national titles in 1960 and 1991 and they also have the longest winning streak in NCAA history with 63 consecutive games won. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington#Athletics) Although WSU does have a football team they have never been as successful as the UW. WSU football has been to the Rose bowl but they have never won one and have never won a national championship. The biggest game of the year for both schools is the Apple Cup. The Apple Cup is the yearly football game that takes place between the schools and is the palace were the rivalry heats up the most. The first Apple Cup took place in 1900 and the UW holds the lead over WSU with a record of 65-31-6. Although the athletics are a big part of the rivalry with football being the main focus the little known one is academics.

In the field of academics both schools could not be any more different in what their main focus of study is. The UW is very well known for its research into the medical field. For example the UW school of medicine was ranked first in the nation in 2008(USnews.com) and the nursing school has been ranked number one since 1984. (http://www.son.washington.edu/about/pr_3-30-07.asp) But that’s not all the UW has also been ranked 12th in the nation for business schools for entrepreneurship out doing such schools as Stanford, MIT and even Harvard. (http://admit.washington.edu/Numbers) WSU may not be ranked as high as the UW but it is ranked none the less. WSU is ranked 22nd among public research universities without a medical school and 82nd overall among public and private research universities. (National Science foundation) WSU is known for its agricultural research and it research into the area of clean technologies.

This rivalry has been going on for more than 100 years with no end in sight. Ask and 5 people that go to the UW and WSU why they don’t like the other school and you will probably get 5 different answers. But no matter what happens the University of Washington Huskies will always come out on top. So like the beginning of the Husky fight song says Washington State University will always BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON!!!