Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry

The rivalry dates to 1899 in the Arizona Territory, when the University of Arizona in Tucson played the Normal School of Arizona of Tempe – which later evolved into Arizona State University^[6] – as part of the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship. (Arizona, as well as New Mexico, achieved statehood in 1912.)

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 in Tucson.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Another 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"; Arizona proceeded to lose the 1968 Sun Bowl 34–10 to the Auburn Tigers. 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^[9] and part of the College Football Playoff system.

The rivalry series has been known for having decades being dominated by each team, with ASU having the advantage during the 1960s and 1970s, and UA dominating the early years, as well as the 1980s and 1990s.

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, both schools created a “Territorial Cup Series” that encompasses each of the 20 varsity intercollegiate sports that Arizona and Arizona State compete head to head in, apparently due to the schools believing that the rivalry happens in all sports and not only in football.^[10] Each sport is worth either a half or full point in the year-long competition. While the series has yet to have an official sponsor like other rivalry series between two universities, both UA and ASU have tracked down and promoted the series each season. The school that records the most points during the school year wins a trophy that is named after the Territorial Cup football trophy. If both schools finished tied, the winner of the football game decides the tiebreaker and is declared the winner. As of the 2023–24 season, UA leads the series and is in possession of the trophy.^{[11][12][13][14]}

The rivalry has had several nicknames, including the “Battle of Arizona”, the “Grand Canyon Rivalry” (not to be confused with the rivalry between Northern Arizona and Southern Utah that shares the same name), “Desert Wars” (due to Arizona being known for having a desert climate), the “Cactus War” (named after Arizona's prominent feature, the saguaro cactus), and the “Phoenix–Tucson rivalry” (due to both schools being located in state's two largest metropolitan areas, with ASU in Tempe, Phoenix's east suburb, and UA located within the Tucson city limits), with the most famous nickname for the rivalry being the “Duel in the Desert” (or the “Desert Duel”), since both schools wanted to battle for pride and to be the best team in the state, not only in football, but in all sports.^[15]

In 1899, and continuously since 2001, each year's winner receives the Territorial Cup, a traveling trophy.^[3] 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.^[3][16] The cup's name refers to the fact that Arizona was a U.S. territory at the time; it, along with New Mexico, 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.^[3] The cup was put on display in the Alumni Association headquarters and then the University Archives.^[17] It was later authenticated as the original cup by the NCAA, making it the oldest rivalry game trophy in college football.^[4]

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.^[17][18]

The cup is silver plate over Britannia base metal and was manufactured by Reed & 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 Football League Championship 1899 Normal".^[18]

Arizona State University was previously known as the Normal School of Arizona (1899–1901), Tempe Normal School (1901–1925), Tempe State Teacher's College (1925–1928), Arizona State Teacher's College (1928–1945), and Arizona State College (1945–1958) before becoming its current name since 1958 (Arizona has always been called the University of Arizona since their football program began playing in 1899).^[6][19] 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.

In the early part of the rivalry series, the games were played in Tucson due to the fact that ASU's home stadium held very few fans. In 1931, ASU hosted the game for the first time. Arizona dominated the early portion of the series, winning 20 of the first 22 meetings, by having more physical and better-trained players than ASU. The Sun Devils had a reign of dominance from 1949 to 1981, winning 24 of 33, including a 13–2 stretch from 1965 to 1979, under the leadership of ASU's legendary coach Frank Kush. The Wildcats got the best of ASU from 1982 to 1998, going 13–3–1 (with the occurring in 1987) under the guidance of coaches Larry Smith and Dick Tomey and a dominant defensive unit that was one of the nation's best in the early 1990s.

Since 1999, Arizona State has dominated, winning 16 of the last 25 meetings, mainly due to Arizona State having more strong recruiting and on-field performance by being from a larger market and Arizona underperforming and having poor coaching as well as the Wildcats’ basketball success often overshadowing the football program, especially when the two teams meet at end of each season, though the teams’ play is somewhat even in recent years.^[20][21] ASU had a five-game winning streak from 2017 until 2021 (including a 70-7 blowout in 2020), though it was reduced to four, as their 2021 victory was vacated in 2024 due to NCAA violations including tampering, recruiting inducements, and impermissible tryouts (the game still existed as a loss on the Arizona side to it being played on field).^[22] Arizona won the 2023 meeting by a score of 59–23 and currently has a two-game winning streak.

With both teams leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big 12 prior to the start of the 2024 football season, the Wildcats won the series in the Pac-10/12 era, 23–21–1 (officially 21–23–1 on the Arizona State side due their vacated 2021 win).^[23]

• Arizona–Arizona State men's basketball rivalry
• Arizona–Arizona State baseball rivalry
• List of NCAA college football rivalry games