CBS: Big Ten football rivalry rankings: #2. MN vs. wi; #3. MN vs Iowa ; #11. MN vs. MI; #13. MN vs NE; #21. MN vs PSU

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Tom:

2. Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (Paul Bunyan's Axe)​

No Big Ten rivalry has been played more often than this one, not even The Game. The Golden Gophers and Badgers have played 133 times in history with the first meeting coming in 1890. While the stakes in each game aren't typically high, it doesn't matter to either one of these fan bases. Border wars tend to play out that way, and having an awesome trophy to play for doesn't hurt, either. Wisconsin leads 63-62-8

3. Iowa vs. Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale)​

If I were ranking Big Ten rivalry trophies, this would be first in a landslide victory. Who doesn't want a trophy of a pig? The Floyd of Rosedale is perfect in every way, but I'm placing this one behind Minnesota and Wisconsin because there's more history between those two. Still, it's another border rivalry with an awesome trophy. Minnesota leads 63-52-2

11. Michigan vs. Minnesota (Little Brown Jug)​

I love the Little Brown Jug, but I can't rank this game in the top 10. It's no longer a protected rivalry, and the schools haven't played since the 2020 season. Plus, each has at least two other schools they'd consider to be bigger rivals. There's a lot of history here, though. Michigan leads 77-25-3

13. Minnesota vs. Nebraska ($5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy)​

If you haven't noticed, Minnesota is a rival of half the league. Minnesota Nice is a myth. This is a newer rivalry with a trophy that was literally created after Minnesota's Twitter account got into a good-spirited debate with a parody Twitter account of Nebraska's then-coach Bo Pelini called "FauxPelini." Truly, this is the Big Ten's first Millennial rivalry. Minnesota leads 37-25-2

21. Minnesota vs. Penn State (Governor's Victory Bell)​

This game has a trophy, so I included it in the rankings, but I don't know how many Minnesota or Penn State students are even aware that this is considered a rivalry. Penn State leads 10-6
www.cbssports.com

Big Ten football rivalry rankings: Where USC-UCLA, Oregon-Washington stand as conference expands in 2024

Ranking the football rivalries as the league balloons to 18 teams in the 2024 season
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
 



The GopherHole poll at this link rates Iowa higher than Wisconsin, at least this season:

Poll: Which Game Are You Most Looking Forward to?

Poll closes in 100 days. Comments encouraged.
gopherhole.com gopherhole.com



And the Michigan loss isn't anything I'm looking forward to. I would put Nebraska higher since it's a rivalry and Gophers probably win too.
 



Someday I will get over the 83-13 beatdown (maybe after my death) but until then Nebraska is my number 1. Heck it may take another twenty years before I even consider them a real Big Ten team. They are noob carpetbaggers.
 



Word said:
Iowa home vs Wisconsin away may explain the difference.

Personally, the Wisconsin rivalry means more to me and it's not that close.
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Wisconsin is far and away more important to me as well, but the Iowa game is more important in terms of the team proving we're over the hump in terms of them consistently beating us under PJ. He's proven we're back to being able to reliably win against WI, time to do that with the chickens
 




in my book, Nebraska has moved past Michigan as a rival. Let's face it, Michigan is just out of the Gopher's league most years, and they don't play each other every season. from 2018 to 2022, the teams met only once in a five-year period.

Nebraska and the Gophers have been playing every season in the B1G West, and there just seems to be more of a spark around the rivalry.

I am admittedly biased - I know a lot of Nebraska fans and we give each other a hard time during football seasons. (one of them is a Methodist pastor......)

but I just get more excited for a Nebraska game then for a Michigan game.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
in my book, Nebraska has moved past Michigan as a rival. Let's face it, Michigan is just out of the Gopher's league most years, and they don't play each other every season. from 2018 to 2022, the teams met only once in a five-year period.

Nebraska and the Gophers have been playing every season in the B1G West, and there just seems to be more of a spark around the rivalry.

I am admittedly biased - I know a lot of Nebraska fans and we give each other a hard time during football seasons. (one of them is a Methodist pastor......)

but I just get more excited for a Nebraska game then for a Michigan game.
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Tradition!!!
 

short ornery norwegian said:
in my book, Nebraska has moved past Michigan as a rival. Let's face it, Michigan is just out of the Gopher's league most years, and they don't play each other every season. from 2018 to 2022, the teams met only once in a five-year period.

Nebraska and the Gophers have been playing every season in the B1G West, and there just seems to be more of a spark around the rivalry.

I am admittedly biased - I know a lot of Nebraska fans and we give each other a hard time during football seasons. (one of them is a Methodist pastor......)

but I just get more excited for a Nebraska game then for a Michigan game.
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Yeah I pretty much agree with this for a few reasons. One is how competitive it is, Michigan's lead in the series and their performance in most of the games makes it tough to look at it in the same lens as the other rivalry games for Minnesota.

On that point, for both teams, neither is each school's biggest rival. For Michigan, it's the Buckeyes and Spartans, and for the Gophers, it's the Badgers and Hawkeyes.

Nebraska, meanwhile, is a much more competitive series, one that the Gophers lead. It's especially been good since the Huskers joined the Big Ten.

That's not to say I don't still enjoy the Michigan games. They're opportunities for big upsets and the Little Brown Jug is a fantastic rivalry trophy carrying a ton of history. But Nebraska's presence in the Big Ten has somewhat shifted where the actual Michigan series ranks.

The only real thing missing is the trophy being officially recognized. It's commonly brought up in online forums and social media as being one of the better new college football traditions, it's been mentioned positively several times on College Gameday and it raises money for charity. This year will mark 10 years since it was introduced, I think it's time for it to be recognized.
 







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