What is Paul Bunyan's Axe? Why Wisconsin, Minnesota play for one of CFB's most unique trophies
A rivalry rekindled, Wisconsin and Minnesota is the second-longest uninterrupted rivalry in the college football world.
The teams have played each other every year since 1907, and they play for one of the best pieces of hardware in college football, let alone the Big Ten: Paul Bunyan's Axe.
That is not hyperbole. College football has plenty of great rivalries and trophies, but Paul Bunyan's Axe — named for the literally larger-than-life lumberjack folk hero of the north — stands alone. With a 6-foot handle, there are few more satisfying sights in college sports than a football team comprised of college kids storming around the field with a giant axe.
A statement like that shouldn't need visual proof, but just in case:
Minnesota has taken the axe in each of the past two seasons and three of the last five, after snapping a 14-game win streak by Wisconsin, the longest streak in the series' history.
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What is Paul Bunyan's Axe?
Paul Bunyan's Axe is the trophy that goes to the winner of Wisconsin vs. Minnesota.
An axe with a 6-foot-long handle, it was commissioned by the National W Club and brought into play in 1948.
The "goes to" terminology above is important, as the trophy is not "presented" as many trophies are. If the incumbent trophy winners win the game, then they pantomime chopping down the opposing goalposts with the axe. If the previous year's losers win, then they go and "steal" the trophy from the opposing sideline.
The current iteration of the axe is actually the second one, with the old one being retired in 2000. It is now in the College Football Hall of Fame, where it has resided since being donated in 2003. The scores of the game are carved onto the handle, whereas the face of the axe is emblazoned with two teams' names and the commissioners, the National W Club.
Why is it spelled "Axe?"
One of the funnier gripes with the trophy (an axe people like to grind, as it were) is that it uses a spelling of the word "axe" that is largely accepted in England.
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Axe and ax are variants of the same word, and there isn't a satisfying reason for why Paul Bunyan's Axe uses the "e" spelling. It really comes down to "that's how it is and how it's always been." Both variants appear in Webster's Dictionary, but "axe" remains the technically correct spelling.
What happened to the Slab of Bacon?
Before Paul Bunyan's Axe, there was the Slab of Bacon.
A delightfully quirky trophy in its own right, the Slab of Bacon was what these teams played for from 1930 to 1943. However, in an incredible bit of rivalry lore, the trophy mysteriously "vanished" after the Badgers lost in 1943.
The axe replaced the strip of wood five years later, but like any great tale, this one had a slow burn. The slab was found in a Wisconsin storage locker over 50 years later, in 1994. Well, things get misplaced all the time, especially in storage. But in a move that would make any petty rival proud, the slab was maintained and had scores up through 1970 painted on it, according to the UW Alumni website.
The slab is permanently retired, but what could be construed as sour grapes by the Badgers is also an institutional part of the rivalry.
What is the Wisconsin vs. Minnesota record
The Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry endures because these teams are incredibly even.
After 133 years of games and 132 meetings, the series is a dead heat at 62-62-8 following Minnesota's win last year. The Golden Gophers are looking to retake the series lead for the first time since 2015. Wisconsin tied the series in 2016 and took the lead in 2017.
The Badgers hold the longest winning streak at 14 games from 2004 to 2017, which resulted in some fireworks in the midst of the streak.
Why does the winner 'chop down goalposts?'
What else are you going to do with an axe?
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It's unknown precisely when the tradition of chopping down the losing goalposts with the axe started, but that has sparked some drama in the past.
After Wisconsin won the axe for the 10th straight year in 2013, Minnesota got fed up with the pantomimed celebration. The Golden Gophers defended the goalposts, resulting in a kerfuffle that nearly escalated into a skirmish between the teams. The next season, Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen kept the axe off the Wisconsin sidelines. It was reinstituted to the sidelines in 2015, and the tradition has continued since.
The teams haven't scuffled after games since that season, and sportsmanship has reigned again in The Border War.
Longest-played continuous rivalries in FBS
Wisconsin-Minnesota in the fall is a college football institution.
It is the longest continuous continues rivalry in the Football Bowl Series, and the second-oldest rivalry in college football behind Lehigh and Lafayette (dubbed "The Rivalry," Lehigh vs. Lafayette was originally cancelled in 2020 before being made up in Spring 2021, thus continuing the series "uninterrupted").
Here's a look at the longest-running series in the FBS, and the year they started.
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota, 1907
NC State vs. Wake Forest, 1910
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, 1910
Kansas vs. Kansas State, 1911
Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 1917
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What is Paul Bunyan's Axe? Wisconsin, Minnesota play for unique CFB trophy
