The feat's "Northwest Championship" moniker was coined by Rick Neuheisel, head coach of the 2002 Washington Huskies.

[2][6][7] After a string of disappointing losses, he challenged his players to win the newly conceived title by defeating their northwest rivals in the season's remaining games.

[9] The Northwest Championship has been described as a "so-called",[10] "fictitious",[3] and "mythical"[11][12][13] title, invented by Neuheisel only to motivate his 2002 team.

[14] Nevertheless, in the years following the Huskies' original claim of the title, other teams have continued to be cited as winning the Northwest Championship upon completing the sweep.

[18] Through rare[11] happenstance, Washington was scheduled to play the three other Pacific Northwest schools in order to end the season.

The football undershirts had three blank boxes labeled for the other northwest schools, which the players checked off after each win.

Washington State has yet to complete the sweep in the years since the title was named, but several times has been on the hunt going into the end-of-season Apple Cup.

Historical results have been compiled for prior years by the school athletic departments, local media, and fans of the football programs.