Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry

Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry

Arizona Wildcats Arizona State Sun Devils
First meeting	November 30, 1899 Arizona State 11–2[1]
Latest meeting	November 26, 2016 Arizona, 56–35
Next meeting	2017
Trophy	Territorial Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	90
All-time series	Arizona leads, 49–40–1
Largest victory	Arizona, 67–0 (1946)
Longest win streak	Arizona, 11 (1932–48)
Current win streak	Arizona, 1 (2016–present)

The Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry, sometimes known as the Duel in the Desert, is a college football rivalry between the University of Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State University Sun Devils. Though not one of the longest football rivalries, the winner receives the Territorial Cup, created for the 1899 champion between schools in Arizona and which the NCAA has certified as the oldest rivalry trophy in college football.^[2] While the Territorial Cup did not change hands as a regular part of the competition until 2001, the rivalry between the two schools continued after 1899, a semi-regular event until becoming an annual event from 1946 onwards. It is part of the wider Arizona–Arizona State rivalry, which crosses 20 varsity intercollegiate sports.

History

	Arizona	Arizona State
Location	Tucson	Tempe
Students	40,621	50,246
School Colors	Cardinal & Blue	Maroon & Gold
Mascot	Wildcats	Sun Devils
Football National Titles Arizona - 0 Arizona State - 0 Football Conference Championships Arizona - 6 (1935, 1936, 1941, 1964, 1973, 1993) [3] Arizona State - 17 (1931, 1939, 1940, 1952, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1986, 1996, 2007)[4]

The rivalry dates to 1899, when the University of Arizona in Tucson played the Normal School of Arizona in Tempe – which later evolved into Arizona State University^[5] – as part of the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship. The championship was a four-way series that also included Phoenix Union High School and Phoenix Indian School. Arizona and the Normal School met on November 30, 1899 for a Thanksgiving Day match at Carrillo Gardens Field in Tucson. Contemporary newspaper stories indicate that this was the first game for the University squad, while the Normal team was comparatively more experienced and better trained. The event drew 300 enthusiastic fans and was followed by a post-game Thanksgiving celebration for both teams hosted by the University. The "Normals", as they were called, won the game 11-2; as they had previously defeated the other schools, they were declared champions and received the Territorial Cup.^[6]

The two teams played each other sporadically for the next decades, and have played almost every year beginning in 1925 (when Arizona State became a four-year college). The rivalry became particularly heated in the late 1950s amid the political contention over turning Arizona State College into an official university, a change opposed by the University of Arizona and many of its alumni. In 1958, the year the measure was to be put to a statewide vote, Arizona State defeated Arizona 47–0. The blowout win was a major point of pride for Arizona State, which became a university later that year.^[7]

Another notably heated game came in 1968. The contest was expected to decide which team would go on to the Sun Bowl, but before the game, Arizona coach Darrell Mudra issued an ultimatum to the Sun Bowl committee that his team would not play in the bowl unless they were selected regardless of who won. The committee chose Arizona, who promptly lost to Arizona State 30–7 in what became known as the "Ultimatum Bowl". The events led to the creation of the Fiesta Bowl as a default bowl for Arizona State should they receive no other bids; it went on to become part of the highly lucrative Bowl Championship Series^[7] and is now part of the College Football Playoff system.

In the modern era of the game, it has often been played on the day after Thanksgiving. It has most recently been scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving to accommodate network television coverage. Starting with the 2009-2010 school year, State Farm became the presenting sponsor for the State Farm Territorial Cup Series. This series encompasses each of the 20 varsity intercollegiate sports that Arizona and Arizona State compete head to head in. Each sport is worth 1 point in the year-long competition. The school that wins the most head to head competitions is awarded the new Territorial Cup Series Trophy. Arizona State leads the Series at 4-3.

Territorial Cup

In 1899, and continuously since 2001, each year's winner receives the Territorial Cup, a traveling trophy. The trophy was originally used in 1899 for the series that involved the teams' first ever meeting. As the Normal School won all three of its games, it was declared champion and awarded the trophy.^[8] The cup's name refers to the fact that Arizona was a U.S. territory at the time; it became a state in 1912.

After the tournament the trophy's whereabouts were unknown until 1980 when it was rediscovered in the basement of a church adjacent to Arizona State's campus. The cup was put on display in the Alumni Association headquarters and then the University Archives.^[9] It was later authenticated as the original cup by the NCAA, making it the oldest rivalry game trophy in college football.^[2]

In 2000, Arizona contacted Arizona State about displaying the cup on their campus. The following year, then ASU President Lattie Coor ordered that the Territorial Cup be shared as a traveling trophy, to be displayed by each year's winner. Coor and then UA President Peter Likins signed a protocol governing the cup's use and care. Each year the tradition is celebrated at a pre-game reception for boosters. A replica version was also made and is the trophy presented to the winner after the game.^[9][10]

The cup is silver plate over Britannia base metal and was manufactured by Reed and Barton of Taunton, Massachusetts. It was a standard style priced at $20 ($462.05 in 2010 dollars) in Reed and Barton's 1910 catalog. The inscription reads "Arizona Foot Ball League Championship 1899 Normal".^[10]

Series history

Arizona leads the series 49–40–1, which includes a 20–2 start for Arizona from 1899 to 1948. Arizona State University was previously known as the Normal School of Arizona (1899–1901), Tempe Normal School (1901–25), Tempe State Teacher's College (1925–28), Arizona State Teacher's College (1928–45), and Arizona State College (1945–58).^[5][11] Arizona State did not come under the control and patronage of the state's Board of Regents until 1945 and the teams did not play each other every year until 1946. Since that time, Arizona State leads the series 38–32–1.

Similarly, since Arizona State became a university in 1958, Arizona State leads the series 32–26–1. Since both teams moved from the Western Athletic Conference to what is now the Pac-12, Arizona leads the series 21–17–1. Arizona won the latest match-up, defeating the Sun Devils 56-35 on November 25, 2016 in Tucson.

Game results

Arizona victories

Arizona State victories

Tie games

# Date Location Winner Score 1 1899 Tucson Normal School of Arizona 11–2 2 1902 Tucson Arizona 12–0 3 1914 Tucson Arizona 34–0 4 1915 Tucson Arizona 7–0 5 1919 Tucson Arizona 59–0 6 1925 Tucson Arizona 13–3 7 1926 Tucson Arizona 35–0 8 1928 Tucson Arizona 39–0 9 1929 Tucson Arizona 26–0 10 1930 Tucson Arizona 6–0 11 1931 Tempe Arizona State 19–6 12 1932 Tucson Arizona 20–6 13 1933 Tempe Arizona 26–7 14 1934 Tucson Arizona 32–6 15 1935 Tucson Arizona 26–0 16 1936 Tempe Arizona 18–0 17 1937 Tucson Arizona 20–6 18 1941 Tempe Arizona 20–7 19 1942 Tempe Arizona 23–0 20 1946 Tucson Arizona 67–0 21 1947 Tempe Arizona 26–13 22 1948 Tucson Arizona 33–21 23 1949 Tempe Arizona State 34–7 24 1950 Tucson Arizona State 47–13 25 1951 Tempe Arizona State 61–14 26 1952 Tucson Arizona State 20–18 27 1953 Tempe Arizona 35–0 28 1954 Tucson Arizona 54–14 29 1955 Tempe Arizona 7–6 30 1956 Tucson Arizona State 20–0 31 1957 Tempe Arizona State 47–7 32 1958 Tucson Arizona State 47–0 33 1959 Tempe Arizona State 15–9 34 1960 Tucson Arizona 35–7 35 1961 Tempe Arizona 22–13 36 1962 Tucson Arizona 20–17 37 1963 Tempe Arizona State 35–6 38 1964 Tucson Arizona 30–6 39 1965 Tempe Arizona State 14–6 40 1966 Tucson Arizona State 20–17 41 1967 Tempe Arizona State 47–7 42 1968 Tucson Arizona State 30–7 43 1969 Tempe Arizona State 38–24 44 1970 Tucson #9 Arizona State 10–6 45 1971 Tempe Arizona State 31–0 46 1972 Tucson Arizona State 38–21 # Date Location Winner Score 47 1973 Tempe Arizona State 55–19 48 1974 Tucson Arizona 10–0 49 1975 Tempe #8 Arizona State 24–21 50 1976 Tucson Arizona State 27–10 51 1977 Tempe Arizona State 23–7 52 1978 Tucson Arizona State 18–17 53 1979 Tempe Arizona 27–24 54 1980 Tucson Arizona State 44–7 55 1981 Tempe Arizona State 24–13 56 1982 Tucson Arizona 28–18 57 1983 Tempe Arizona 17–15 58 1984 Tucson Arizona 16–10 59 1985 Tempe Arizona 16–13 60 1986 Tucson #14 Arizona 34–17 61 1987 Tempe Tie 24–24 62 1988 Tucson Arizona 28–18 63 1989 Tempe Arizona 28–10 64 1990 Tucson Arizona 21–17 65 1991 Tempe Arizona State 37–14 66 1992 Tucson Arizona State 7–6 67 1993 Tempe Arizona 34–20 68 1994 Tucson Arizona 28–27 69 1995 Tempe Arizona 31–28 70 1996 Tucson #4 Arizona State 56–14 71 1997 Tempe Arizona 28–16 72 1998 Tucson #7 Arizona 50–42 73 1999 Tempe Arizona State 42–27 74 2000 Tucson Arizona State 30–17 75 2001 Tempe Arizona 34–21 76 2002 Tucson Arizona State 34–20 77 2003 Tempe Arizona State 28–7 78 2004 Tucson Arizona 34–27 79 2005 Tempe Arizona State 23–20 80 2006 Tucson Arizona State 28–14 81 2007 Tempe #13 Arizona State 20–17 82 2008 Tucson Arizona 31–10 83 2009 Tempe Arizona 20–17 84 2010 Tucson Arizona State 30–29 85 2011 Tempe Arizona 31–27 86 2012 Tucson Arizona State 41–34 87 2013 Tempe #12 Arizona State 58–21 88 2014 Tucson #11 Arizona 42–35 89 2015 Tempe Arizona State 52–37 90 2016 Tucson Arizona 56–35 Series: Arizona leads 49–40–1

Basketball

See also

• State Farm Territorial Cup Series

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2011-11-02., http://www.tempe.gov/museum/football/fbasuua.htm.
2. "History of the Territorial Rivalry Trophy between Arizona and Arizona State". Yahoo News. October 29, 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
3. Arizona Wildcats football#Conference championships
4. Arizona State Sun Devils football#Conference championships
5. "Tempe Normal School Records, 1885-1930 MSS-149". http://www.azarchivesonline.org. Arizona Archives Online. 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014. External link in |website= (help)
6. "History", territorialcupseries.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
7. Rappoport, Ken; Wilner, Barry (2007). Football Feuds: The Greatest College Football Rivalries. Globe Pequot. pp. 183–185. ISBN 1599210142. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
8. , http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2007/11/27/the-arizona-territorial-cup/.
9. "Out of Bounds: History of the Territorial Cup". statepress.com.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2011-11-02., http://www.territorialcupseries.com/genrel/trophy.html.
11. "The New ASU Story: Academic Programs". www.asu.edu. Arizona State University. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2014.