What joining the Big Ten means from an Oregon fan and media perspective

BW: Ohio State fans know a big rivalry obviously, but tell Buckeye fans a little about Washington and Oregon and how that differs from the “Civil War” with Oregon State which is sadly in limbo now. And yes, we know both schools prefer to no longer have it called that, but still.

Zachary Neel: There’s an age-old debate in Oregon about who the Ducks’ biggest rival is: Washington or Oregon State. The more competitive rivalry is against the Huskies, where both Oregon and Washington have been nationally prominent, but largely at different times. From 2004-2015, Oregon beat Washington 12-straight times, which is a stat that Duck fans still dine on regularly. Since then, though, the rivalry has been extremely competitive, with both teams knocking the other off in upset fashion multiple times.

The rivalry against Oregon State is different. The Beavers (also frequently known as “Little Brother” for Oregon fans) have less-frequently punched in the same weight class as the Ducks. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t gotten their shots in — we don’t need to talk about what happened in 2022 — but a game against Oregon State causes less stress for Oregon fans than a game against Washington, simply because the Beavers typically haven’t been as good. With all of that said, though, I think a loss against the Beavers hurts more than a loss to the Huskies.

And a quick note on the “Civil War” name: I think that a majority of Oregon and Oregon State fans would love for that rivalry name to be reinstated. While there are respectable reasons for the name being removed a few years ago following the riots across the nation, some fans feel that removing the “Civil War” name might have been overkill. In the past year or so, I’ve heard a growing group of the population return to calling it the Civil War, and I think in the future it could return to that full-time.