7 reasons Nebraska-Wisconsin is a good fit for a trophy rivalry

Eventually, we might find it hard to remember a time these two weren’t rivals.

Wisconsin and Nebraska have technically been playing football against each other since 1901, when the Badgers won an 18-0 decision in Milwaukee. But they’ve met only nine times since then, making this series both old and kind of new.

The teams didn’t play again until 1965, when they started a stretch of four meetings in 10 years.

Then they didn’t play until the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011. The league stuck them together in the new West division for 2014, so now it’s an annual affair, with the winner taking something called the “Freedom Trophy.” They meet again on Saturday in Lincoln.

For a series that’ll only be 13 games old after 2018, this is a unique sorta-rivalry.

1. It’s already a trophy game.

The Freedom Trophy doesn’t have much to do with these two teams. They just play for it. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez settled on a trophy with Huskers AD Sean Eichorst in 2014. It’s quite nice; it’s just not especially about either Wisconsin or Nebraska. Its inscription reads:

The Freedom Trophy pays tribute to the brave men and women who have fought in our nation’s wars. The University of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, built on what was once a Civil War training ground, and the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, dedicated in honor of our nation’s veterans, stand as proud monuments to those who have sacrificed so much in the name of freedom.

The trophy has an American flag in the center of it, sandwiched between a model of half-Memorial Stadium, half-Camp Randall.

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Wisconsin’s won it every time so far. The all-time series is 8-4, Badgers. Nebraska finally pulling its weight on the field would really unlock this series’ potential.

2. The two represent similar states.

Neither state has tons of local blue-chip recruits. Both base their best teams on development, physical football, overlooked local players, and players recruited from far away.

Wisconsin has been one of the country’s best at turning unheralded locals into first-rounders, and the Huskers’ list of legends includes players from the Midwest and Heartland, but also players like Ndamukong Suh, from Oregon.

3. Both are by far the biggest and most successful college sports presences in their states.

Both have large fanbases, big stadiums, and national brands. Both rank in the top 24 athletic departments in revenue, per USA Today.

And for much of the last couple decades, one or the other has been in the national picture each season, with 14 combined top-10 finishes since 1992.

"We're kind of the same thing," Wisconsin safety Leo Musso told ESPN. "We're two blue-collar teams, and we're the only college teams in the state. Everybody loves Nebraska in Nebraska. Everybody loves Wisconsin in Wisconsin. It truly is becoming a great rivalry."

4. There’s some close athletic department history.

Alvarez played linebacker at Nebraska for Bob Devaney in the 1960s. (Two Wisconsin assistants, Joe Rudolph and Ted Gilmore, used to coach at Nebraska. That part’s less fun.)

Nebraska’s former AD, Shawn Eichorst is a former Alvarez deputy in Madison. Eichorst was involved in getting this rivalry trophy set up, though he’s since been fired.

5. Their shared identity is by design, at least in some ways.

“I’ve said this often. They look a lot like Nebraska used to look and like we want to look in some ways,” Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said before 2018’s meeting.

Wisconsin’s built up a significant walk-on program, to the point where the Badgers get real contributions from players who didn’t get to campus on scholarship. This is something Alvarez worked to establish after taking over as Wisconsin’s head coach in 1990. The Huskers were a big influence.

“Almost everything we did at Wisconsin, we stole from Nebraska, including the fabled walk-on program,” Alvarez said in 2009.

“I used the Nebraska blueprint,” he added. “We analyzed what we could do and what we could consistently have, and then we implemented our strategy. First, we kept the best in-state kids at home. Then we recruited the best players we could recruit to be a very physical, run-oriented team. And, finally, when we realized no one in the Big Ten was doing what Nebraska was doing with walk-ons, we went after it.”

The Huskers put together a long list of walk-on accomplishments from the 1970s onward, with a bunch of good players coming through the program in the 80s and 90s. A handful earned All-American honors, and about 30 appeared in the NFL.

6. They’ve already had memorable games.

The 2012 Big Ten Championship! That’s when the underdog Badgers pulled off one of the most complete upsets in recent memory.

The Melvin Gordon game! In 2014, the Wisconsin running back ran for 408 yards on 25 carries in a romp against the Badgers. That 16.32-yard average is the highest ever in an FBS game by a player carrying 25 times or more. It was a remarkable and difficult feat.

Your turn to add a memorable win, Nebraska.

7. The teams have similar uniforms, as you’ve probably noticed.

One time, Adidas, which used to sponsor Wisconsin and still sponsors Nebraska, put them in really similar uniforms.

Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images

But the two look alike even when they’re not wearing contrived jerseys with similarly curved letters on them.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

If you were looking at this picture from 20 feet away, you wouldn’t be able to tell which team was which. I bet both teams would hate that, and that’s why they’ll eventually be such great rivals.

(As soon as Nebraska finally starts beating Wisconsin again, that is.)

Bonus: There’s a neat coaching circle of life going on here, which unfolded a few offseasons ago.

After 2014, Nebraska fired head coach Bo Pelini, and the Huskers replaced him by hiring away Oregon State’s Mike Riley. Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen left to replace Riley in Corvallis, and Pitt’s Paul Chryst (a former Wisconsin offensive coordinator) took over in Madison. In a roundabout way, who knows where Frost and Chryst would be right now if Nebraska hadn’t canned Pelini when it did?