Pacific-12 Conference - Football

Football

Each of the 10 schools that were conference members before 2011 has its own in-state, conference rivalry. One is an intracity rivalry (UCLA-USC), and another is within the same metropolitan area (California-Stanford). The two schools that joined in 2011 were historic rivals in the Rocky Mountain region, prior to 1962 when they suspended the series. These rivalries (and the name given to the football forms) are:

• Oregon–Oregon State (The Civil War, the winner's Alumni Association gets the Platypus Trophy but is not recognized by the Universities).
• California–Stanford (The Big Game, winner gets the Stanford Axe).
• Arizona–Arizona State (The Duel in the Desert, winner gets the Territorial Cup).
• Colorado-Utah (Rumble in the Rockies).
• Washington–Washington State (The Apple Cup game, since 1962 the winner gets the Apple Cup trophy).
• UCLA–USC (The Crosstown Showdown, winner gets the Victory Bell).

The two newest members, Colorado and Utah, have a football rivalry as well that had been dormant since 1962 - both were conference rivals previously in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (now a Division II conference), and later the now-defunct Mountain States Conference (also known as the Skyline Conference). Even after Colorado joined what became the Big 12 in 1948 (the conference was then known popularly as the Big 7 Conference), the two schools continued their football rivalry for over a decade before ending it after the 1962 season. With the two schools being placed in the same division for football starting in 2011, the rivalry was revived with their 58th meeting during the 2011 Pac-12 season. Colorado leads the series 31–24–3.

There are other notable football rivalries within the Pac-12.

All of the California schools consider each other major rivals, due to the culture clash between Northern and Southern California. For USC, the big game is UCLA. For Stanford, their big game is California. But for both Stanford and California, their second biggest game is USC. California and UCLA have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the top programs within the University of California system. Stanford and USC have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the only private schools in the Pac-12. California and USC also have a long history, having played each other every year in football since 1916.

Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State all consider each other major rivals due to the proximity and long history. The Oregon - Washington rivalry is sometimes referred to as the Border War.

Arizona and New Mexico have a recently renewed rivalry game, based upon when they were both members of the WAC and both states were longtime territories before being admitted as states in 1912. They played for the Kit Carson Rifle trophy, which was no longer used starting with their meeting in the 1997 Insight Bowl.

USC and Notre Dame have an intersectional rivalry (See Notre Dame – USC rivalry). The games in odd-numbered years in Indiana are played in mid-October, while the games in even-numbered years in Los Angeles are usually played in late November.

The isolated rural campuses of Washington State and Idaho are eight miles (13 km) apart on the Palouse, creating a natural border war. Idaho rejoined FBS in 1996; the football rivalry has been dubbed Battle of the Palouse.

Utah and BYU have a fierce rivalry that goes back to 1896 that until recently was an inter-conference rivalry nicknamed the Holy War.

With the NCAA permanently approving 12-game schedules in college football beginning in 2006, the Pac-10—alone among major conferences in doing so—went to a full nine-game conference schedule. Previously, the schools did not play one non-rival opponent, resulting in an eight-game conference schedule (four home games and four away). In 2010, the last season before the arrival of Colorado and Utah, the only other BCS conference that played a round-robin schedule was the Big East. The schedule consisted of one home and away game against the two schools in each region, plus the game against the primary rival.