The Apple Cup has been played in November for over a century. In 2026 it kicks off the whole season instead — and for the first time ever, Washington and Washington State walk in from two completely different conferences.
Bush’s Picks
WSUWASH
WSUWASH
OverUnder
Best BetWashington
Washington enters with the more established quarterback and a coaching staff now in year 3 together, which is usually enough to lean on in a rivalry opener against a program breaking in a new head coach and possibly a new starting quarterback. Washington State's ceiling is real, but backing an unproven signal-caller on the road in a first-time coach's debut is the riskier side of this line. Take the Huskies to win it outright.
+Retained key pieces in Pulalasi, Vorhees off portal
+Rebuilt Pac-12 gives program fresh stakes, ambition
−No named starting QB entering the opener
−Spring turnovers, accuracy issues still unresolved
−First-time head coach's debut on the road
Washington
+Demond Williams Jr. back after 3,000-yard, 31-TD season
+Fisch entering year 3 with staff continuity
+Projected top-6 Big Ten team, more talent depth
−Fisch under real pressure after No. 9 Big Ten finish
−Rivalry openers are notoriously unpredictable
−Big Ten fanbase reportedly less patient this year
This isn't the Apple Cup anyone grew up with. Washington is now in year 3 of the Big Ten under Jedd Fisch, and Washington State is fielding a rebuilt, from-scratch Pac-12 under first-year head coach Kirby Moore. Realignment tried to kill this rivalry and mostly just moved the date — both schools agreed to keep playing through 2028, and this year they front-loaded it as a Labor Day weekend showcase in Seattle instead of the usual late-season grudge match.
Washington brings the more proven hand under center. Demond Williams Jr. threw for over 3,000 yards and accounted for 31 total touchdowns a season ago, and he's back for his junior year with a Stanford transfer, Elijah Brown, added behind him for depth. Fisch has talked all offseason about being a 'trenches-based' team, and after a No. 9 finish in the Big Ten last year, the Huskies are being pegged closer to the top of the league in 2026 — meaning the margin for a sluggish opener against a rival is thinner than it used to be.
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WSU Washington State
WASH Washington
Washington State is the bigger unknown walking in. Kirby Moore, brother of Saints head coach Kellen Moore and a longtime Boise State/Missouri offensive mind, is running his first program, and Pullman still hasn't settled on a starting quarterback. Caden Pinnick — an FCS Freshman All-American transfer from UC Davis — is the presumptive frontrunner over Owen Eshelman and Julian Dugger, but spring ball reportedly wasn't clean enough for Moore to hand him the job outright, with turnovers and accuracy the sticking point.
Washington State Cougars
Washington Huskies
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The Cougars did win the retention battle in other spots. Leo Pulalasi and Kirby Vorhees both pulled their names out of the transfer portal to stick around, and Vorhees now has the inside track to lead the backfield as a redshirt junior. That kind of continuity matters for a program starting over at coach and possibly at quarterback in the same season — the pieces around a new starter are at least familiar with each other.
Washington State Cougars
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Washington Huskies
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
There's no shortage of storylines for a game with zero postseason stakes attached. It's a rivalry that survived conference realignment out of pure stubbornness, a new-era Pac-12 taking its first real swing at a Big Ten program, and a first-time head coach trying not to get run out of Seattle in his debut. Whatever else 2026 brings for either team, Sunday, September 6 is the one both fan bases circled the moment the schedule came out.
