MINNEAPOLIS — The series with the most meetings in major college football history, the bitter border-state rivalry between Minnesota and Wisconsin, is punctuated each year with a postgame ritual by the winning team that could be described as jubilant yardwork.
When time expires Saturday in the 135th edition of the grudge match between Minnesota’s Golden Gophers and Wisconsin’s Badgers, currently even at 63-63 with eight ties, the victors will sprint toward Paul Bunyan’s Axe, take turns hoisting the six-foot shaft above their heads as they parade it around the stadium, and aim the head at one of the goal posts in pretending to chop it down like it’s a giant tree in the North Woods.
The axe has been awarded annually since 1948, and keeping it or regaining it never seems to lose its lustre for the winning team.
There’s hardly a richer — or quirkier — tradition in college football than rivalry trophies. It’s of the few elements of the game that remains the same even as rosters rarely do these days, when NCAA rules changes, the transfer portal, NIL compensation and revenue sharing have players on the move more than ever.
From the small schools to the powerhouse programs, nothing captures a sports fan’s attention quite like a traveling trophy.