Oregon State or Washington? Oregon's true biggest rival revealed

There are some who feel the Oregon Ducks' biggest rival is the in-state Oregon State Beavers.

Others will argue it's the Washington Huskies.

And maybe your niche Twitter/X and recruiting superfans would claim it's the USC Trojans.

But The Athletic's Scott Dochterman has answered that question in his recent ranking of college football's top 100 rivalries.

Sitting at No. 21 - shockingly behind Harvard-Yale and Kansas-Missouri on a college football rivalry list - is Oregon-Washington.

Here's what The Athletic had to say about the historic clash:

"These border foes have engaged in a different type of rivalry with one another than with their in-state foes, and this one has especially gained prominence the last 15 years. This Pacific Northwest series has the highest growth trajectory of any current rivalry." 

In total, the two teams have played 116 times and 10 times in which both were ranked - but seven of those have occurred in the past 15 years.

In other words, it's a rivalry that is quickly ramping up in national relevance.

Washington leads the all-time series 63-49-5 and has won three of the past four, but Oregon had a stretch where it won 12 straight and 15 of 17 from 2004-2021 and clearly claims modern dominance in the border battle. 

Both schools also have historic victories. 

Oregon's "The Pick" in 1994 sent them to the Rose Bowl with Kenny Wheaton's historic 97-yard Pick-6, while Washington's 34-31 victory over Oregon in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship led to a national championship game appearance. 

As far as national relevance, it's clear the battle still has some work to do now that's it has been moved to the Big Ten, as the likes of Harvard-Yale and Kansas-Missouri eclipse Oregon-Washington on the intriguing list.

Unsurprisingly, the top rivalry on the list is Michigan-Ohio State.