With Nebraska and Minnesota renewing a football rivalry this fall that began in 1900, Sports Headliners suggests a trophy be created that the Cornhuskers and Gophers compete for each season.
Nebraska, the newest member of the Big Ten Conference, plays a Big Ten football schedule for the first time in 2011. The Cornhuskers will join the Gophers and four other schools in the Legends Division. Six other league schools will form the Leaders Division.
Minnesota and Nebraska last met in 1990. The Gophers lead the all-time series 29-20-2, but the Cornhuskers have won 14 consecutive games. Minnesota last won a game in 1960, the school’s most recent national championship season.
The Gophers have played more nonconference football games against Nebraska than any other school, and it’s not even close. Minnesota and Iowa State have met in 26 games.
The Cornhuskers and Gophers have envied football histories. The two schools can claim 11 national championships, six at Minnesota and five for Nebraska. Those titles were won by four coaches, Minnesota’s Bernie Bierman and Murray Warmath, and Nebraska’s Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.
The Gophers already have four rivalry trophies. The newest is the Governor’s Victory Bell established by the governors of Minnesota and Pennsylvania in 1993 for the Minnesota-Penn State rivalry. The other trophies are the Little Brown Jug (1909), Floyd of Rosedale (1939) and Paul Bunyan’s Axe (1950). The Gophers compete against Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin for those trophies.
Got an idea for a Minnesota-Nebraska trophy name? E-mail the suggestion to: ds@shamasportsheadliners.com