A pig, tomahawk, bucket and wooden box at stake in Big Ten rivalry games

A pig, tomahawk, bucket, and wooden box at stake in Big Ten rivalry games

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Rivalry week has arrived in the Big Ten, and spaces are being cleared in trophy cases stretching from Minneapolis to State College.

At stake Saturday: a bronze pig, a tomahawk, a bucket and a giant wooden box celebrating the nation’s two oldest land-grant universities. OK, so the last one is a little lame, but this year, the Penn State-Michigan State clash is even more important than The Game (Ohio State-Michigan). Not only will the winner hoist the Land Grant Trophy, but also the hardware everyone covets — the Big Ten championship trophy. Two of the other games have major bowl implications, while Purdue will bid farewell to its all-time winningest coach. Here’s a closer look at the Big Ten’s four trophy games Saturday.

The Quad: Big Ten Notebook – A Chance to Restore Respect

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Trophy blogging on the Web

TROPHY GAME: The first of 15 trophy games for Big Ten teams takes place this weekend, as Iowa and Iowa State play another installment of their in-state rivalry for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

Iowa State captured the trophy last year. It’s no Paul Bunyan’s Axe, but, hey, it’s only Week 3. Given the flooding disasters the state of Iowa has endured recently, Kirk Ferentz, Iowa’s coach, said the crowd in Iowa City could be particularly feverish for this year’s edition.

This rivalry might not get a lot of attention outside of Iowa, but the dislike runs deep, as Ferentz learned quickly the first time he experienced it.

“It took me probably to about pregame warmup to figure out where we stood with the fans at Ames,” he said.

Originally blogged by Mike Ogle (New York Times).

Two-minute drill: Florida Defensive Line Coach Dan McCarney

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Trophy news from Gainesville, FL

Dan McCarney spent 29 years as a coach in the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences before coming to Florida this year, so we wanted to test his knowledge of the Gators’ rivalry with Miami. Specifically, we asked him about the War Canoe, which is given to the winner of the UF-Miami football game, which hasn’t been contested during the regular season since 2003, but will be renewed Saturday night in Gainesville. Miami has owned the War Canoe since 1986 because of its six consecutive victories over UF.