A tale of two rivalries. (Warning long/numbers)

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westcoastgopher11

westcoastgopher11

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As I sat down to watch ESPN on a cool, wet, fall bye week morning I began to see an eerily similar set of coincidences appear as I reflected on our football program. Gameday was in Seattle for the Huskies matchup with the reviled rival Oregon Ducks; a team that had beaten Washington 9 straight times. My ears perked up upon hearing this statistic, because it is a situation that we currently find ourselves mired in versus Wisconsin. While we have heard plenty about Oregon and Wisconsin over the last decade we have not had as much to talk about in regards to Washington and Minnesota. I decided to do some digging and what I found surprised me, as the 4 programs in these two historic rivalries share a lot of similarities in the last 10 years.

First the skinny on our Pacific Northwest rivalry twins:
Total meetings: 105
All Time record: Washington leads 58-42-5
Current Win Streak: 9 Oregon, longest in series history

The Huskies have in-state rival Wazzu (known as "little brother") but Washington considers Oregon their biggest rival. The Huskies have a similar all time record (67-32-6) against Wazzu as the Gophers do against Iowa (61-44-2). In this sense both Washington State and Iowa are similar, annoyances that occasionally take a piss on your season but generally one sided historically affairs.

Contrast this to our record against Wisconsin:
Total Meetings: 122
All Time Record: Minnesota leads 59-55-8
Current Win Streak: 9 Wisconsin, tied for longest in series history (1933-41 Gophers)

Now to recent history, where things have not been so kind to the Huskies and the Gophers; since 2004 (the start of both winning streaks for Oregon/Wisconsin) things have been grim for both programs.

Washington
Conference Record: 25-55 (.313)
Overall Record: 42-73 (.365)
Bowl Record (Wins): 1-2 (2010 Holiday Bowl vs Nebraska)
Head Coaches (Seasons Coached): 3; Gilbertson (1), Willingham (4), Sarkisian (4)

Minnesota
Conference Record: 22-52 (.297)
Overall Record: 50-68 (.424)
Bowl Record (Wins): 1-5 (2004 Music City Bowl vs Alabama)
Head Coaches (Seasons Coached): 3; Mason (3), Brewster (4*), Kill (3)
*relieved mid-season

Not good doesn't do it justice, these programs have been almost identical in their struggles for the past decade. Contrast this to the last decade for our respective rivals:

Oregon
Conference Record: 62-19 (.765)
Overall Record: 92-28 (.767)
Bowl Record (Wins): 4-4 (2007 Sun Bowl vs South Florida, 2008 Holiday Bowl vs Oklahoma State, 2012 Rose Bowl vs Wisconsin, 2013 Fiesta Bowl vs Kansas State)
BCS Record: 2-2
Conference Titles: 4
Head Coaches (Season Coached): 3; Bellotti (5), Kelly (4), Helfrich (1)

Wisconsin
Conference Record: 49-25 (.653)
Overall Record: 90-33 (.732)
Bowl Record (Wins): 3-6 (2006 Capital One Bowl vs Auburn, 2007 Capital One Bowl vs Arkansas, 2009 Champs Sports Bowl vs Miami)
BCS Record: 0-3
Conference Titles: 3
Head Coaches (Seasons Coached): 3; Alvarez (2), Bielema (7), Andersen (1)


I couldn't help but be amazed by the similarities of these 4 programs over the past decade, while simultaneously downtrodden about the potential developments in the rivalries with the meetings this year. A decade of losing to a rival is unacceptable, and it seems that both the Gophers and Huskies are at the precipice of this embarrassment.

If their were ever a perfect storm to break the streak let it be this year for both programs. Both teams are fielding (arguably) their best squads under their current coaches and both Wisconsin and Oregon are led by 1st year head coaches. Furthermore both games are played at home for the teams trying to end the streak. Let's get a little good karma going and root for a Huskie upset over the Ducks today, who knows how it will get paid back down the line...
 

Good read. Thanks for taking the time to put it together!
 

Good stuff from your end...not so much for Wash./Goph's.
 


There is also a bit of history between Minnesota and Washington. I believe (from memory of something I read) we traveled to Seattle to take on the Huskies by train several times, they also came to Minneapolis often. We also met in the Rose Bowl. It would be a fun home/home to schedule in the future.

Interesting info though, thanks.
 


JoeDirt said:
There is also a bit of history between Minnesota and Washington. I believe (from memory of something I read) we traveled to Seattle to take on the Huskies by train several times, they also came to Minneapolis often. We also met in the Rose Bowl. It would be a fun home/home to schedule in the future.

Interesting info though, thanks.
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Yea it definitely would be, the schools/states themselves are a lot alike, I got a little bias too considering the ex is a huge Husky fan.
 

Good stuff. I couldn't help but notice that the scene in front of the library at Washington is very similar to what Northrop Auditorium would look like if we ever hosted Gameday (except it wouldn't be dark to start the broadcast).
 

westcoastgopher11 said:
Yea it definitely would be, the schools/states themselves are a lot alike, I got a little bias too considering the ex is a huge Husky fan.
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The campuses are also a lot alike. Very green, urban campuses that are very walkable.

Of the schools in the Pac-12, Washington is the team the Gophers have played the most.
 

Washington has won conference championships eight times since the Gophers last won one.
They shared the national title in 1991.

The programs really aren't even close in terms of modern history.
 



I believe the awesome '77 Gophers beat Washington. The reason I remember is because they also beat Michigan and Washington and Michigan met in the Rose Bowl.
 

Wow that is very interesting. Forgive me if I missed this in your write up (skimmed very quickly) but both Belotti and Alvarez then went on to become ADs. Both of their right hand men (Kelly, Bielema) got the keys to the programs, only to leave for bigger and better things a couple years later.
 

BieberHole69 said:
Wow that is very interesting. Forgive me if I missed this in your write up (skimmed very quickly) but both Belotti and Alvarez then went on to become ADs. Both of their right hand men (Kelly, Bielema) got the keys to the programs, only to leave for bigger and better things a couple years later.
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This is true, both guys coached 10+ years and led their programs to major bowl wins (Rose for Alvarez and Fiesta for Bellotti). Essentially they are the patriarch figures of their respective programs and are largely responsible for the successes both the Badgers and Ducks have enjoyed. Even before Knight went all in on Oregon Bellotti was winning games and making Oregon as nationally relevant as they had ever been in their history.
 

That said, Washington still thinks they are the premier program in the Pacific NW, and tries to schedule like they're perennially making a MNC run. To them, a program like Minnesota doesn't belong on their schedule. Their fans are insufferably cocky. Never mind the fact that both Oregon and Wazzu have been to the Rose Bowl since UDub.
 



GopherRock said:
That said, Washington still thinks they are the premier program in the Pacific NW, and tries to schedule like they're perennially making a MNC run. To them, a program like Minnesota doesn't belong on their schedule. Their fans are insufferably cocky. Never mind the fact that both Oregon and Wazzu have been to the Rose Bowl since UDub.
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Oh they ride the Huskies like there is no tomorrow. I admit they have a strong passionate fan base that can border on *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#baggery but they have had a pretty big reality check recently with Oregon running train on the whole Pac-12 and the Tyrone Willingham debacle. I'd like to see our fans get more of an edge and have more pride about the program but we need to win first before we can pump our chests about anything.
 

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