In this edition of our PAC 10 "primer" we will look at the different rivalries that are within the PAC 10. Some of the schools have out of state/ conference rivalries. These are the football rivalries and does not take into account the different rivalries that are throughout the different sports. On to the rivalries...

Rivalries

The Pac-10 is an anomaly in college sports, in that each school within the conference has its own in-state, conference rivalry. One is an intracity rivalry, and another is within the same metropolitan area. These rivalries (and the name given to the football forms) are:

• Arizona-Arizona State (winner gets the Territorial Cup)
• Washington-Washington State (winner gets the Apple Cup)
• Oregon-Oregon State (The Civil War)
• Cal-Stanford (The Big Game, winner gets the Stanford Axe)
• UCLA-USC (winner gets the Victory Bell)

A look at each of the five football rivalries in the Pac-10:

Territorial Cup

Schools: Arizona and Arizona State

First game: 1899

Series: Arizona leads 44-35-1

At stake: The Territorial Cup, which was presumed gone forever until a few years ago, when it was found in the basement of a Tempe church that was about to be demolished. The Cup is registered with the NCAA as the oldest rivalry trophy in college football.

Greatest moment: In a 1975 contest with the Western Athletic Conference title at stake, John Jefferson made “The Catch” late in the second quarter, helping the Sun Devils to a 24-21 victory. ASU later beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-0 and No. 2 in the country.

The Big Game

Schools: California and Stanford

First game: 1892

Series: Stanford leads 54-44-11

At stake: The Stanford Axe, which was stolen by Cal fans after a baseball game in 1899 and kept in a safe at a Berkeley, Calif., bank until 1933. Then, both schools decided that it would make an ideal trophy for the winner of the annual football game between the schools.

Greatest moment: This is not exactly a brainteaser. Think 1982, a kickoff, five laterals and California’s Kevin Moen crashing into two Stanford band members in the end zone, and you have what has been immortalized as “The Play.”

The Civil War

Schools: Oregon and Oregon State

First game: 1899

Series: Oregon leads 55-45-10

At stake: There currently is no traveling trophy. The Platypus Trophy, which was awarded to the winner in the 1950s and ’60s, was recently rediscovered in a closet at Oregon’s McArthur Court, and there has been a movement to have the schools reinstate it as the game’s prize.

Greatest moment: The Oregon schools were the class of the Pacific Coast Conference in 1957, both finishing with 6-2 conference records. Oregon State won the meeting between the schools, 10-7, but Oregon went to the Rose Bowl because the PCC had a “no-repeat” clause for Pasadena, and the Beavers had been there the season before.

The Victory Bell

Schools: Southern California and UCLA

First game: 1929

Series: USC leads 41-28-7

At stake: The Victory Bell, whose story is similar to that of the Stanford Axe. It belonged to UCLA — and was rung after each Bruins score — until USC students stole it in 1941. It was in hiding for more than a year until both schools agreed to award it to the football game winner.

Greatest moment: UCLA was ranked first and USC fourth when they met in 1967 with a conference — and possibly national — title at stake. O.J. Simpson’s electrifying 64-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was the deciding score in a 21-20 Trojans victory. USC finished No. 1, and UCLA quarterback Gary Beban, who threw for 301 yards against the Trojans despite badly bruised ribs, won the Heisman Trophy.

The Apple Cup

Schools: Washington and Washington State

First game: 1900

Series: Washington leads 64-30-6

At stake: The teams played for the Governor’s Trophy until 1962, when the schools decided that their rivalry should honor perhaps the state’s most famous export — apples.

Greatest moment: Before the Mike Price years at WSU, Washington dominated its in-state rival for national recognition. There was a rare aberration in 1981, when a berth in the Rose Bowl went to the Apple Cup winner. UW again got the best of the Cougars on that day, capitalizing on six turnovers to post a 23-10 victory.

All of the California schools consider each other major rivals, due to the culture clash between Northern and Southern California. USC and Stanford have long-standing football grudge as the only two private institutions in the conference. Cal and UCLA have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the top programs within the University of California system. Cal and USC also have a long history, having played each other every year in football since 1916.

Oregon and Washington also have an unofficial rivalry (despite recent efforts to give it the name "The Cascade Clash") as the two most prominent schools in the Northwest. All of the Northwest schools consider each other as rivals due to the proximity and long history.

Arizona and New Mexico had a rivalry game played for the Kit Carson Rifle trophy.

Outside Conference Rivalries:

Notre Dame vs. USC

First meeting: 1926
Series record: Notre Dame 42-31-5

USC also has a long-standing rivalry with Notre Dame, meeting 75 times in the battle for the Jewelled Shillelagh. The Irish war club is decorated with rubies for Trojan victories and emeralds for Irish wins. No rivalry matches two teams with more long-standing success. USC and Notre Dame have combined for 23 national championships and 14 Heisman Trophy winners over their histories, and little has changed since the two teams began play. The most dramatic game was "The Comeback" in 1974 when USC erased a 24-0 deficit to No. 1 Notre Dame with a 35-point third quarter on the way to a 55-24 win. The two teams have traded dominance in the series in recent decades, with Notre Dame going 12-0-1 from 1983-95. USC won the next three games, Notre Dame the three after. USC is riding a five-game winning streak, including the infamous "Bush Push" game in 2005. With Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis coaching the teams, there's little chance for this rivalry to fade on the national stage anytime soon.

Washington State also has a rivalry with the University of Idaho, due to the fact that they are located a mere eight miles away from each other. This rivarly is much less fiercely contested than the intra-state rivalry with Washington, and is generally considered to be more important to Idaho's fans than to WSU's.