The Border War has been one of the best rivalries not just in the Pac-12, but in all of college football. Oregon and Washington's rivalry dates back to 1900, and has seen its share of shake-ups over the years.
Saturday's latest edition of the Border War will be the first meeting between the two teams as top 10 opponents. It also will be the final meeting between the two in the Pac-12.
It was announced before the 2023 campaign that Oregon and Washington would be headed to the Big Ten, ending their extensive time in the Pac-12. The two will be a major loss for the conference, who will see the only two Pac-12 teams to reach the College Football Playoff exit, following USC and UCLA who were the first two teams to leave for the Big Ten.
When will Oregon and Washington officially join the Big Ten? Here's what you need to know about their timeline for departure.
The Big Ten is expanding westward in 2024.
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 13, 2023
Hop in as we try to navigate the treacherous trail from Rutgers all the way out to USC 👀 pic.twitter.com/3yVR4bRcdE
When are Oregon and Washington joining the Big Ten?
This will be the final year Oregon and Washington are members of the Pac-12 conference, meaning next year's edition of the Border War will be held as a Big Ten rivalry matchup.
The Big Ten announced in early August that Oregon and Washington would be joining the conference starting in 2024. That made the Ducks and Huskies the third and fourth teams to join the midwest-based conference, joining fellow west coast schools USC and UCLA, which had been announced as moving to the conference in July 2022.
The four Big Ten-bound programs are not the only ones to leave the Pac-12. Here's a look at where the other Pac-12 programs are headed:
| School | New conference |
| Arizona | Big 12 |
| Arizona State | Big 12 |
| California | ACC |
| Colorado | Big 12 |
| Oregon | Big Ten |
| Oregon State | Pac-12 |
| Stanford | ACC |
| UCLA | Big Ten |
| USC | Big Ten |
| Utah | Big 12 |
| Washington | Big Ten |
| Washington State | Pac-12 |
The departure of all but two of the current Pac-12 programs has thrown the conference into a state of uncertainty. Only Oregon State and Washington State are slated to return to the conference, and it doesn't appear there's a clear future for the two programs or the Pac-12.
"I don't think it's going to take us months to get the full picture," Washington State president Kirk Schulz said on Sept. 21, per the Associated Press. "I'm optimistic that in the next 30 days or so we're going to have a pretty decent idea of a lot of this and that'll help our decision-making and our legal strategy."
There have been no further updates on the two programs since.
As for Oregon and Washington, their schedules will look significantly different in 2024. Not all the dates for the games are set, but Oregon will host Washington, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State and Ohio State among conference teams and head on the road to face Purdue, UCLA and Wisconsin. Washington will host Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA and USC, and will face Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Penn State and Rutgers on the road.
College football is going to look significantly different in 2024, but the Border War, at least for now, appears to be safe for the foreseeable future. But Pac-12 football fans should relish the 2023 edition, as next year it will be part of the Big Ten's long-running list of rivalry clashes.
