Fascinating College Football Rivalry Trophies Fans Might Not Know Existed

In college football, there are great rivalry games and historic hardware. Alabama and Auburn have the Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy. Ole Miss and Mississippi State have the Golden Egg. Michigan and Michigan State have the Paul Bunyan Trophy, and Minnesota and Michigan fight for the Little Brown Jug.

What truly makes the sport memorable are the lesser-known trophies that make up the great regional rivalries. Some are more unknown due to the series' one-sidedness, while others are simply overshadowed by bigger games.

Below, we discuss some of college football's great rivalry trophies that do not receive the direct spotlight.

Illibuck Trophy (Ohio State-Illinois)

The Illibuck Trophy is a carved wooden turtle awarded to the winner of the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini. The two junior honorary societies of each university, Bucket and Dipper of Ohio State and Atius-Sachem of Illinois, care for the Illibuck.

When the tradition started in 1925, the original prize was a live turtle picked for its expected long life as a symbol of the anticipated longevity of the rivalry. Since the live turtle's death the following year, ten subsequent wooden Illibucks have been carved with each of the scores from that replica's era written on its shell.

The Buckeyes currently lead the series 64–23–2 against the Fighting Illini (Ohio State's NCAA-vacated 2010 victory is not excluded from this total) and have won the last eight contests. The two programs will battle for the Illibuck Trophy from Illinois' Memorial Stadium in Champaign next season.

Victory Bell (UCLA-USC)

The Victory Bell has been the trophy between the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans since 1942. The bell was originally a gift to the UCLA student body by the school's alumni association in 1939. Still, it was stolen by USC students in 1941 when both programs played home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum. Over the next few years, tensions grew as students from both universities drew elaborate and disruptive pranks on the other.

Eventually, tensions reached an impasse in 1942 when the USC president threatened to cancel the series. From that point forward, the bell was used as a trophy between both programs. Depending on the winner of each meeting, the bell carriage is painted "True Blue" or "Cardinal Red."

USC holds a 47–34–4 advantage in the series (USC's NCAA vacated victories in 2004 and 2005 are not excluded from the total), while UCLA won the most recent meeting in 2023 by a score of 34-20. The two programs, now members of the Big Ten, will meet again on Nov. 23 from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Megaphone Trophy (Michigan State-Notre Dame)

The Megaphone Trophy, introduced by the Alumni Clubs of Notre Dame and Michigan State, has been the hardware awarded to the winner between both programs since 1949.

The trophy is a giant cheerleading megaphone atop a wooden base, with a plaque detailing its history on its side. The megaphone portion is divided into two colors: blue for Notre Dame and green for Michigan State, with the scores of each matchup written down the divide.

The current edition of the Megaphone Trophy is the third version, as the previous two ran out of room to house the scores. The Spartans and Fighting Irish last played in 2017 but are scheduled to meet again on Sept. 19, 2026, at Notre Dame Stadium as part of a home-and-home series.

Notre Dame currently leads the trophy series 33–27–1 (Notre Dame's 2012 NCAA vacated victory is not excluded from the total).

Potato State Trophy

As the newest rivalry trophy to enter college football, the Idaho Vandals and Idaho State Bengals will battle for the inaugural Potato State Trophy.

The 19.4-pound trophy is an enormous potato constructed from Douglas Fir wood. It rests atop another wooden base with small side plaques on which the score of each matchup can be engraved. Next to the large wooden potato is a metal cutout of the state of Idaho with the etching of both schools' athletic logos over their locations.

The Potato State Trophy replaces the Battle of the Domes Trophy, discontinued ahead of the 2023 season after the trophy sponsor adjusted its sponsorship with both institutions.

Vandals' head coach, Jason Eck, created a temporary make-shift trophy for last season's game when he titled the Potato State Trophy with a Mr. Potato Head on the Battle of the Domes Trophy base.

During the Big Sky conference's media day on Monday in Spokane, Washington, Assistant Athletic Director Jerek Wolcott expressed his excitement about the new trophy and how it adds to the entertainment value of college football.

Wolcott also mentioned how the trophy has already been embraced by many throughout the college football world, top-rated college football podcast Sickos Committee, who present at the media day event.

From the Illibuck to the newly introduced Potato State Trophy and all those not named in between, college football is littered with historic hardware representing the sport's great rivalries, even if they're not entirely well-known.

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