High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Battle of the Palouse is an American college football rivalry between the Idaho Vandals football team of the University of Idaho and Washington State Cougars football team of Washington State University. The name of the rivalry is derived from the "Palouse," the rolling agricultural region in which both schools are located. The two land-grant universities are less than eight miles (13 km) apart, with Idaho`s campus located in Moscow, directly on the Idaho–Washington border, and Washington State`s campus directly west in Pullman, linked by Washington State Route 270 and the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail.