The Wisconsin Badgers have a long history of rivalries, especially with the other teams in the Midwest. Badger fans don't like Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan, literally all of them, and honestly more. At the end of the day, only three have trophies, and the history behind why that is is a fun walk down memory lane. Searching the archives and learning where and when each of these rivalry names and trophies came from.
Let's break down all three of Wisconsin's trophies and how they came to be.
1. Paul Bunyan Axe (Minnesota)
The most important football rivalry is a border battle between Wisconsin and Minnesota. It's the most storied and oldest rivalry in all of college football, with over 135 games played between the two dating all the way back to 1890. The trophy came about in 1948 when Wisconsin took a 16-0 loss to Minnesota, and the Wisconsin lettermen's group, the National 'W' Club, gave an axe to the Golden Gophers to be displayed on campus. In the following years, the score would be etched on the axe handle, and the victor would take it home.
The axe was to represent Paul Bunyan, a mythical giant of the Midwest who chops down trees to settle the land. The axe is now used to pretend to chop down a goal post and signal the toppling of the rival.
2. Heartland Trophy (Iowa)
The second rivalry trophy to be added to Wisconsin was the game against Iowa. While Iowa and Wisconsin may not play every single year like the Badgers play the Golden Gophers, the two programs love beating each other. It is also a rivalry that goes way back, not quite as far as Wisconsin vs. Minnesota, but close: 1894. The trophy and name are way more recent, though. It was a creation of Barry Alvarez and Iowa athletic director (at the time), Bob Bowlsby.
In 2004, the two concocted the idea of the trophy and the name of "The Heartland Trophy." According to a joint statement released, Bowlsby said, "The Iowa-Wisconsin series has always been one of the most competitive and hard-fought series in college football. The bull on the top of the trophy symbolizes the kind of games that have been typical when the schools meet. It's a trophy that will be treasured by the winning team each year."
The bull trophy was, as Bowlsby said, to represent how the two football teams are known to play. Hard, physical, powerful, in the trenches football. Low scoring, with the winner getting an edge because of how the offense and defensive lines played.
3. Freedom Trophy (Nebraska)
Finally, the newest trophy to the collection came in 2014. While the rivalry between Wisconsin and Nebraska goes back further, there was a whole era where the two weren't in the same conference. Nebraska didn't come to the Big Ten until 2011. While the two teams first started playing in 1901, there have been long gaps between each game.
The trophy itself is representative of the two stadiums, according to the Freedom Trophy website: "The Freedom Trophy depicts the teams’ two iconic stadiums: Camp Randall in Madison and Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, on a wooden base. Both stadiums are under an American flag in a tribute to those who have served the United States. Camp Randall was a Civil War training site, and Memorial Stadium was built as a monument to service men and women post-World War I."
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