The rivalry is likely rooted in the two schools' relatively close proximity to one another in the state of California.

The city of Fresno is located approximately 150 miles southeast of San Jose.

The Bulldogs and Spartans first played each other in 1921, making the rivalry series the second oldest in the Mountain West Conference, behind only Colorado State–Wyoming.

[3][4] The trophy features a silver letter V, with an electrical transistor pattern down one side, and a grape vine pattern down the other, representing each school's representative geographic region.

However, in February 2025, the two schools reached a contract to extend their series past 2025, now as a non conference matchup.