Why Two College Football Teams Will Play Each Other Twice This Season

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt Wadleigh | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 8:56 AM ET

The college football season is coming soon. On Monday, the preseason Associated Press top 25 poll dropped and had fans even more excited.

While Week 1 features Ohio State facing Texas, and Week 0 has Kansas State and Iowa State facing off in Dublin, Ireland, there are plenty of notable matchups that fans are circling on the schedule.

And, among them is a weird scheduling twist.

Oregon State and Washington State, the only two teams remaining in the Pac-12 Conference, are facing each other twice this season in regular-season play.

Why Are They Playing Twice?

With the other Pac-12 teams leaving for the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, that left Oregon State and Washington State without anywhere to go.

In 2025, it is the final year before the Pac-12 adds more teams, including Fresno State, Boise State, San Diego State and others in 2026.

But, until then, Washington State and Oregon State need to fill a schedule.

After the Pac-12 dispersal, these programs made a scheduling alignment with the Mountain West, meaning they would play three home and three road games a year against MWC programs.

This year, however, the Mountain West decided against it in what was labeled as a financial decision.

In turn, that left both Pac-12 programs scrambling to find a way to fill the schedule, and thus having to play each other twice in the same season, and both of which come in the month of November.

Due to conference realignment, the Cougars and Beavers will spilt a rare regular season home-and-home series pic.twitter.com/Tjv7XK2f03
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) August 12, 2025

Moreover, the road to any potential College Football Playoff spot is very difficult for these programs. Since there are not eight members in the Pac-12, they would not be eligible for a conference title game and would therefore need to earn an at-large bid.

Oregon State plays each of Texas Tech, Oregon and Wake Forest while Washington State faces off against Ole Miss, Virginia and James Madison in the notable games.

For what it's worth, it is highly unlikely either program earns an at-large bid, but crazier things have happened.

Washington State-Oregon State Series History

These two teams have a long history with one another, so playing twice in the same season could be fun.

Washington State currently leads the all-time series with a 57-49-3 record, although Oregon State won the 2024 showdown in Corvallis by a score of 41-38.

Has This Happened Before?

As for teams facing each other twice in one season, this has happened before, and recently.

New Mexico State and Hawaii played each other twice in the 2021 season, with Hawaii winning both games.

New Mexico State and Liberty both played each other twice during the 2018 season, with the two teams splitting the series.

Besides that, it seems to be a rare occurrence, at least in this age in college football, although it was more common in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to travel plans.

It is also different from a team facing off in the regular season and having a rematch in the conference title game, which happens quite often.

This year, in a wonky twist, it will happen as Washington State travels to Corvallis on November 1 and then hosts Oregon State on November 29 in the regular-season finale for both teams.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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