Commentary: Will UW-Oregon football game lose its luster in the Big Ten?

SEATTLE – Could this be where it peaks?

No doubt that the most heated annual contest in the Pacific Northwest is the matchup between the Washington and Oregon football teams.

Scrappy as Oregon State and Washington State have been in years past (and, yes, both are capable of knocking off their in-state rivals), the Apple Cup and the game formerly known as the Civil War pale in comparison with this unnamed game involving the big-name schools.

Saturday’s meeting between the No. 7 Huskies (5-0, 2-0 in the Pac-12) and No. 8 Ducks (5-0, 2-0) feels like the most-hyped between the programs in years, especially with ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew coming to town. But what’s made this rivalry so distinguished over the past few years is that it felt it had conference-title implications – even if one of the teams was forced to try to play the role of spoiler.

Is it fair to worry that the magnitude of the matchup will wane when the schools move to the Big Ten?

From 2016-20, for instance, UW (twice) and Oregon (also twice) won four of the five conference championships. During the COVID season of 2020, Pac-12 North leader Washington canceled its game with Oregon, thus allowing the Ducks to compete for the conference title, which they won.

And though an unfortunate tiebreaking scenario prevented the Huskies from going to the Pac-12 Championship Game last year, they helped knock Oregon out of contention with their win in Eugene and would have played for the title under the old division rules.

The point here is that both programs have flourished the past several seasons and distinguished themselves as conference powerhouses. That means something when they share a field together.

But what about when they’re in a conference proven to be superior? Will Oregon vs. Washington carry the same weight if each is repeatedly the fourth- or fifth- or sixth-best team in the conference?

Remember, the Big Ten has sent a school to the College Football Playoff in each of the past four seasons – including two last season. The Pac-12 hasn’t sent one since Washington made it in 2016. And gone are the days of two divisions. You want to make it to the Big Ten title game? You have to finish with one of the two best records in the conference.

This is a Himalayan-sized order when you share a conference with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and USC, among others. There is a reason schools outside of the Big Ten and SEC were scrambling to latch on to one of the so-called super conferences – it’s because the superior talent made for massive TV contracts that would lead to long-term financial stability.

Washington and Oregon may be in a better position to compete for national championships than they would have been if they never joined the Big Ten. But competing for conference championships will likely become rarer.

The way the polls look suggest as much. Michigan and Ohio State are both unbeaten and sit at No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the nation – with the Wolverines receiving 11 first-place votes and the Buckeyes one. That same respect doesn’t exist for the undefeated Huskies and Ducks, whose résumés haven’t commanded it over the past few years.

That said, there is a chance the move to the Big Ten will actually boost the significance of this game. Over the past several years (basically since Washington got good again), each of these schools had two rivalry weeks per season. And scattered throughout the season were myriad contests with long-established foes on the West Coast.

Surely the competition will be stiffer for the Huskies upon their move to their new conference, but it won’t be familiar. Their game versus the Ducks always will be, though.

Of course, most fans aren’t thinking about any UW-UO games beyond Saturday. It’s two top-10 teams with two Heisman hopefuls (Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix) in what feels like the first meaningful game in Husky Stadium of the season. The winner will have a clear (but difficult) path to the Pac-12 Championship Game – and perhaps CFP – and the loser will forfeit its margin for error and perhaps have to rely on help.

This is the game this region has been waiting for all season and the game the nation will have been waiting for all week. Enjoy it, but it’s worth asking whether this will continue to be the case.