From ‘Dotting the I’ in Columbus and the ‘World’s Largest Drum’ in West Lafayette to ‘Jump Around’ at Camp Randall Stadium and ‘The Kinnick Wave’ in Iowa City, there are certain indelible customs that set the Big Ten apart from its contemporaries.
Just as respected and intense are the rivalries and traditions, many of which were born before the conference was formed in 1896. Michigan–Ohio State stands unquestioned as the Big Ten’s top rivalry, and it can make a case as the best in all of sports. But for a conference formed in 1896, there are more games and moments that matter besides ‘The Game.’
All season, The Athletic’s writers will rank various Big Ten topics. Today, Jesse Temple and Scott Dochterman break down the conference’s top rivalry games, trophies and traditions.
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Best rivalry outside of Michigan-Ohio State
Temple: Wisconsin and Minnesota have the most-played rivalry in the FBS (133 games) and the longest continually played rivalry (117 games). These two border rivals do not like each other, and every year offers an opportunity to give players a history lesson — even if some of it isn’t true.
Former Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland once told me a story shared with the team about a Wisconsin football player in the 1930s or ‘40s who chose to have his injured finger amputated rather than miss a game against Minnesota. The message, Borland said, was clear: “Better to lose a finger than a fumble to Minnesota.” There was a Wisconsin native named Francis “Pug” Lund who played halfback for Minnesota, and in the spring of 1934, had his left pinky finger amputated because he’d broken it so many times that it would no longer bend. But there was no evidence to suggest a Wisconsin player did the same, let alone in the lead-up to playing Minnesota.
The rivalry has been spiced up since P.J. Fleck arrived at Minnesota because the Gophers have split the last six matchups after losing 14 straight in the series. This game also has produced two of the best traveling trophies in the Big Ten — first the Slab of Bacon and now Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
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Dochterman: I almost want to cop out and call it a tie with six or seven rivalries at second behind Ohio State-Michigan. Jesse is right for the reasons he listed. Minnesota-Wisconsin is the FBS’ most-played rivalry, and the teams luckily squeezed in a makeup game during the 2020 COVID season. They have played annually from 1907 onward, and the intensity is palpable.
USC–UCLA stands out as the one that challenges Minnesota-Wisconsin for No. 2. They play for a Victory Bell, and the teams will meet for the 94th time later this month. Perhaps their biggest games came in 1967, when No. 4 USC and O.J. Simpson upset No. 1 UCLA and Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban, and in 2006, when UCLA’s 13-9 upset kept USC from the BCS title game.
Other historic rivalries deserve mention like Indiana–Purdue, which ranks second in games played (126 after the upcoming meeting), and the schools’ battle for the Old Oaken Bucket. Tied for fourth in matchups after this year – just one behind Michigan-Ohio State (119 at season’s end) – are Minnesota-Iowa (118) and Illinois–Northwestern (118) with Michigan-Michigan State at 117 and Washington-Oregon at 116.
There also are a few that are competitively based like the trio of Wisconsin-Iowa-Michigan State and Penn State’s battles with Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. Finally, there are the great trophy games that have waned over time like Minnesota-Michigan with the Little Brown Jug and Illinois-Ohio State with the Illibuck.
Michigan won the Little Brown Jug trophy this year by beating Minnesota 27-24 on Sept. 28. (Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
Best rivalry game we’ve seen
Temple: There have been some amazing Big Ten rivalry moments, but give me the 2015 Michigan-Michigan State game, which had an all-time unbelievable ending and an all-time great TV call – “Trouble with the snap!” – by Sean McDonough. Michigan State trailed 23-21 with 10 seconds remaining when Michigan punter Blake O’Neill mishandled a low snap and lost the ball. Michigan State’s Jalen Watts-Jackson recovered and returned it 38 yards for a walk-off touchdown that gave Michigan State a 27-23 victory, helping propel the Spartans to their only College Football Playoff appearance.
Michigan has largely owned the series in the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy (not to be confused with the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe). But the 2015 game will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Spartans fans.
Dochterman: Obviously, Michigan and Ohio State have played in iconic games, especially in 2006, 2016 and 2023. All three stand alone among rivalry games for me.
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But for what I’ve witnessed in person, the 2010 Wisconsin-Iowa clash was extraordinary. There were 30 NFL Draft picks – 15 on each team – and five total first-rounders, including both left tackles and right defensive ends. There were eight lead changes and huge momentum swings. I’ve never heard Kinnick Stadium louder than when Iowa safety Brett Greenwood intercepted Scott Tolzien midway through the fourth quarter. But I never heard a louder groan than when Wisconsin punter Brad Nortman took off on a fake punt on the next possession. Even the last-minute goal-line play that put Wisconsin ahead 31-30 was so hotly contested. The game represented more than just a result; it was a defining moment that changed their rivalry and fortunes for nearly a decade.
Best rivalry trophy
Temple: The Little Brown Jug, awarded to the Michigan-Minnesota winner, has a tremendous backstory and is part of why examining the history of college football is so fun. As the story goes, Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost was concerned before a 1903 game at Minnesota that Gophers fans might contaminate his team’s water supply and told his student manager to purchase a jug to hold water.
The five-gallon jug was left behind in the locker room amid on-field chaos when Minnesota tied the game at 6-6 late in the second half and the game was called with two minutes remaining due to a field-storming that could not be contained. Custodian Oscar Munson found the jug and brought it to Minnesota’s director of athletics. It was then painted over with the final score and the words: Michigan Jug. “Captured” by Oscar, October 21, 1903. When the teams next met six years later, they agreed to play for an actual trophy based on the original jug. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Michigan has won 44 of the last 48 matchups.
Dochterman: Minnesota competes for the best three in the country. The Little Brown Jug with Michigan is the oldest and Paul Bunyan’s Axe with Wisconsin is the coolest. But Floyd of Rosedale is the sport’s best traveling trophy. In 1934, Minnesota battered and bruised Iowa running back Ozzie Simmons, who was Black, in a 48-12 win. Iowa media and fans believed race played a role in how Simmons was treated, and the rhetoric never simmered down. The day before the 1935 game, Iowa Gov. Clyde Herring allegedly blurted in a conversation, “If the officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used last year, I’m sure the crowd won’t.”
The Associated Press picked up those comments and they appeared in every newspaper in the Midwest. Minnesota Gov. Floyd Olson tried to diffuse the situation and sent a telegram to Herring asking if he would wager an Iowa prize hog against one from Minnesota on the game’s outcome. Herring accepted, Minnesota won 13-6 and Herring sent a 200-pound pig from Rosedale Farms to St. Paul on a train. The next year, Olson commissioned a 98-pound bronze replica, and the teams have played annually for the prized pig.
Most underrated rivalry
Dochterman: I’m not sure if any Big Ten traditionalists understand how big Oregon-Washington is to those two teams. Most observers know about their in-state rivalries which have great histories and catchy monikers (Civil War, Apple Cup). But Oregon-Washington is just as feisty and carries more prominence. Washington leads the series 63-48-5 and the teams played twice last year, including for the Pac-12 championship. The Huskies won both games and advanced to the College Football Playoff title game. Oregon currently is ranked No. 1, while Washington is 5-4. While the teams’ upcoming matchup on Nov. 30 appears uneven competitively, it won’t lessen the intensity of this great series.
Temple: I’m not going to pretend like the Old Oaken Bucket game between Indiana and Purdue has produced many meaningful matchups as it relates to the Big Ten race. The last time this annual game featured a ranked team was in 2003 when quarterback Kyle Orton and Purdue were 16th in the country. But this is still a game that has been played 125 times, second-most in the Big Ten behind Minnesota-Wisconsin. Indiana, which has lost three in a row to Purdue and five of the last six, could have a College Football Playoff berth on the line when the teams meet in the regular season finale this year.
Best rivalry tradition
Dochterman: With each passing year, Nebraska-Iowa gathers steam with fans taking a serious dislike to one another. But the Black Friday tradition briefly steps out from its football vitriol with the Heroes Game concept. Each year, the programs honor a citizen from each state who performed a heroic act.
This year, for instance, Iowa’s hero is former Perry High School principal Dan Marburger, who was fatally shot while protecting students after a 17-year-old opened fire at his school. The shooter killed two people and himself and shot six others on Jan. 4. But Marburger’s actions saved numerous other victims. Before the game kicks off, the Heroes honor allows Midwesterners a chance to appreciate selfless deeds and acts as a reminder of everyday heroism.
Temple: For me, it’s the “chopping down” of the goal posts with Paul Bunyan’s Axe by the winning side after the Minnesota-Wisconsin game. Watching guys take turns handling the traveling trophy, honoring the players that came before them and sharing such a moment of glee is a reminder of what’s enjoyable about college football. And, of course, sometimes even that moment comes with controversy, like when Minnesota players and security personnel blocked Wisconsin players from chopping at a goal post near the Gophers’ student section in 2013. Then-Badgers coach Gary Andersen had to help pull his players away from the fracas following a 20-7 victory.
Nastiest rivalry
Dochterman: It’s Michigan-Michigan State and I don’t think there’s a No. 2. While every rivalry has its moments, each year it seems the Spartans and Wolverines get into some sort of bicep-comparing contest that escalates into a brawl. This year, it happened after the game. Two years ago, there was the tunnel fight at Michigan Stadium that led to felony charges.
The rivalry always was heated but in 2007, when Michigan running back Mike Hart called the Spartans “little brother,” it amplified it to another level, and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio thrived on it. It sounds like Michigan coach Sherrone Moore and Michigan State counterpart Jonathan Smith hope to tone down the unnecessary antics, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Temple: Michigan and Ohio State simply are in another stratosphere when it comes to Big Ten football rivalries. Where else would you have a coach refer to its rival as “That team up north” so he wouldn’t have to ever say the word Michigan, as Ohio State’s Woody Hayes did? Where else is a rivalry so big that it’s referred to simply as “The Game?” These teams legitimately hate each other. In 2013, a fight broke out that led to three ejections. Two years ago, there was a sideline scrum in the first half.
The best part about this rivalry in recent years has been how good both teams have been. The past three matchups featured a pair of top-five teams. Michigan won all three games and went to the College Football Playoff each season. Ohio State won the eight previous matchups and has been ranked no worse than 10th in any of the last 11 games.
Best unprotected rivalry
Dochterman: This category belongs almost exclusively to Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ desire to maintain its “Unrivaled” status ended its annual series with Ohio State. Outside of Ohio State-Michigan, the Penn State-Ohio State rivalry usually was the next-most anticipated and highest-rated Big Ten game. They were protected foes under the old two-team alignment from 1995 through 2010 and then joined one another in the Leaders and East divisions. Although the Buckeyes now have won eight straight in the series, it’s a game that fans and networks alike will miss when they don’t meet in 2026 and 2027.
Temple: Scott is correct because the answer, without question, is Ohio State-Penn State. Both teams have been nationally ranked in the past eight matchups, including last Saturday when No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 3 Penn State 20-13. The Buckeyes have won all eight of those games and 12 of the last 13, but it’s a game that consistently generates excitement and tests both programs.
Best potential new rivalry
Temple: I’m looking for a matchup that carries significant national relevance, and that’s why I’ll pick Oregon and Ohio State. It may not be a rivalry in the traditional sense, but the Big Ten is no longer a traditional conference with 18 teams that span both coasts.
Oregon, ranked third in the country at the time, beat No. 2 Ohio State 32-31 in an instant classic at Autzen Stadium last month. These teams won’t play every year, but they are slated to clash in 2026 at Ohio Stadium and again at Autzen Stadium in 2027. Here’s hoping for more high-level football between both programs.
Dochterman: I’m excited to see USC and Michigan tango on a semi-regular basis. They played one another eight times in the Rose Bowl back when reaching Pasadena was a stated goal for both programs. Before this year, they last played following the 2006 season when Michigan didn’t get its BCS rematch with Ohio State.
This year, USC’s Big Ten debut came in Ann Arbor, and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Next year, the Wolverines fly west to face the Trojans, and they’re scheduled to meet again at Michigan Stadium in 2028.
(Top photo of the Floyd of Rosedale trophy: Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)
