Trophy News from Oklahoma
Berry Tramel ranks the best trophies in college football- TREASURES OF VICTORY
?1. Little Brown Jug Trophy: Michigan & Minnesota. In 1903, Michigan coach Hurryup Fielding Yost left his water jug in a Minnesota locker room, later asked for it back and was told he’d have to win it back. And so Michigan has, mostly, for more than a century.
?2. Victory Bell Trophy: Cincinnati & Miami-Ohio. Cincy fans “borrowed” Miami’s bell in the 1890s, and it’s been traveling ever since.
?3. Old Oaken Bucket Trophy: Indiana & Purdue. Established in 1925.
?4. Golden Egg Trophy: Mississippi State & Ole Miss. Established in 1927 to serve as bounty for the winner so the goal posts wouldn’t be destroyed.
?5. Commander in Chief’s Trophy: Air Force, Army & Navy. Later-generation hardware, but the most noble, given to the round-robin winner among the service academies.
?6. Paul Bunyan’s Axe Trophy: Minnesota & Wisconsin. Established in 1948 and symbolic of the lumberjack regions of these schools. Minnesota would have some cool trophies, if the Gophers could win more consistently.
?7. Illy Illibuck Trophy: Ohio State & Illinois. A wooden turtle trophy, established in 1926, a year after the winner was awarded a real turtle.
?8. Golden Hat Trophy: Oklahoma & Texas. Actually started in 1929 as the Bronze Hat, a gift from the Texas State Fair for agreeing to play in Dallas.
?9. Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy: USC & Notre Dame. Produced in 1952 to celebrate the 26-year anniversary of the rivalry.
?10. Apple Cup Trophy: Washington State & Washington. Simple yet elegant name for a trophy instituted in 1962.
?11. Old Brass Spittoon Trophy: Michigan State & Indiana. Established 1950. The Big Ten clearly has the corner on great trophies.
?12. Platypus Trophy: Oregon State & Oregon. Established in 1959 but mysteriously disappeared in 1961 before reappearing in this decade. Makes this list because a platypus has features of both a duck and a beaver.
?13. Iron Skillet Trophy: SMU & TCU. Legend has it, an SMU tailgater in the 1950s was frying frog legs, and one thing led to another.
?14. Fremont Cannon Trophy: UNLV & Nevada. A replica of a cannon that explorer John Fremont hauled West and abandoned in an 1844 snowdrift. Actually fired until 1999.
?15. Telephone Trophy: Missouri & Iowa State. Seems the opposing coaches in 1959 could hear each other on rotary pressbox phones. The gaffe was fixed before kickoff, but Northwestern Bell had a trophy made to honor the occasion.
Originally written by Berry Tramel