Illibuck Trophy

The Illibuck Trophy is the centerpiece of an American college football rivalry between the Illinois Fighting Illini football team of the University of Illinois and Ohio State Buckeyes football team of Ohio State University, with the winner of their game receiving said trophy.

Battle for Illibuck^[1]

Illinois Fighting Illini Ohio State Buckeyes
First meeting	November 15, 1902 Tie, 0–0
Latest meeting	November 18, 2017 Ohio State, 52–14
Next meeting	2025 in Champaign
Trophy	Illibuck
Statistics
Meetings total	103
All-time series	Ohio State leads, 68–30–4^[2] 2010 vacated win not included
Trophy series	Ohio State leads, 64–23–2 2010 vacated win not included
Largest victory	Ohio State, 48–0 (1996)
Longest win streak	Ohio State, 15 (1968–1982)
Current win streak	Ohio State, 8 (2008–present) 2010 vacated win not included

History

 

The winning team in the Illinois–Ohio State game receives this wooden turtle, named the Illibuck.

 

 

 

 

100km
62miles

 

 

Ohio State

 

Illinois

  

Locations of Illinois and Ohio State

The Illibuck is a carved wooden turtle that serves as the trophy awarded to the winner of the game. Two junior honorary societies, Bucket and Dipper of Ohio State and Atius-Sachem of Illinois, are responsible for the care of the Illibuck. Originally the "trophy" was a live turtle when the tradition began in 1925, picked for its expected long life as a symbol of the anticipated long life of the rivalry. From 1919 to 1933, the Illinois–Ohio State game was the regular-season finale for both teams. Since the original turtle's death on April 14, 1926,^[3] ten wooden replica Illibucks have been carved, each with the scores from games on its back.^[4] The Illibuck is the second oldest trophy passed between Big Ten Conference football programs (the Little Brown Jug was created in 1903).

The rivalry once included the smoking of a "peace pipe" between members of the two junior honorary societies, which occurred at halftime of the game. This practice has not been done for many years. However, the trophy is still presented to the winning school of the previous year's contest between quarters.

The series was temporarily interrupted during the 2003 and 2004 seasons when Ohio State and Illinois did not play each other. When the teams met in 2005, Illinois presented the trophy to Ohio State for winning the 2002 game. Ohio State leads the overall series 68–30–4 and the trophy series 63–23–2.

In 2011, the Big Ten expanded to 12 teams and split into two divisions. Ohio State and Illinois were both placed in the Leaders Division, meaning they would play each other every year. But in 2014, the league expanded to accommodate the addition of Maryland and Rutgers, which placed Illinois in the West Division and Ohio State in the East Division.^[5] An annual matchup between the schools will no longer happen with this format, although the teams are guaranteed to meet at least once within a four-year span.^{[citation needed]} The game scheduled for November 28, 2020, was cancelled by Ohio State due to a high number of COVID-19 cases.^[6]

Game results

• Years of an Illinois victory are in blue.
• Years of an Ohio State victory are in scarlet.
• Years of a tie are in grey while vacated victories by either team are in white.

Illinois victories

Ohio State victories

Tie games

Vacated wins

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 15, 1902 Columbus Tie 0–0 2 November 5, 1904 Columbus Illinois 46–0 3 October 17, 1914 Champaign Illinois 37–0 4 October 16, 1915 Columbus Tie 3–3 5 October 21, 1916 Champaign Ohio State 7–6 6 November 17, 1917 Columbus Ohio State 13–0 7 November 16, 1918 Champaign Illinois 13–0 8 November 22, 1919 Columbus Illinois 9–7 9 November 20, 1920 Champaign Ohio State 7–0 10 November 19, 1921 Columbus Illinois 7–0 11 November 25, 1922 Champaign Ohio State 6–3 12 November 24, 1923 Columbus Illinois 9–0 13 November 22, 1924 Champaign Illinois 7–0 14 November 21, 1925 Columbus Illinois 14–9 15 November 20, 1926 Champaign Ohio State 7–6 16 November 19, 1927 Columbus Illinois 13–0 17 November 24, 1928 Champaign Illinois 8–0 18 November 23, 1929 Columbus Illinois 27–0 19 November 22, 1930 Champaign Ohio State 12–9 20 November 21, 1931 Columbus Ohio State 40–0 21 November 19, 1932 Champaign Ohio State 3–0 22 November 25, 1933 Columbus Ohio State 7–6 23 October 13, 1934 Champaign Illinois 14–13 24 November 16, 1935 Columbus Ohio State 6–0 25 November 14, 1936 Champaign Ohio State 13–0 26 November 13, 1937 Columbus Ohio State 19–0 27 November 12, 1938 Champaign Ohio State 32–14 28 November 18, 1939 Columbus #8 Ohio State 21–0 29 November 16, 1940 Urbana, Illinois Ohio State 14–6 30 November 15, 1941 Columbus #20 Ohio State 12–7 31 November 14, 1942 Cleveland, Ohio #10 Ohio State 44–20 32 November 13, 1943 Columbus Ohio State 29–26 33 November 18, 1944 Cleveland, Ohio #4 Ohio State 26–12 34 November 17, 1945 Columbus #9 Ohio State 27–2 35 November 16, 1946 Champaign #9 Illinois 16–7 36 November 15, 1947 Columbus Illinois 28–7 37 November 13, 1948 Champaign Ohio State 34–7 38 November 12, 1949 Columbus #11 Ohio State 30–17 39 November 18, 1950 Champaign #8 Illinois 14–7 40 November 17, 1951 Columbus Tie 0–0 41 November 15, 1952 Champaign Ohio State 27–7 42 October 10, 1953 Columbus Illinois 41–20 43 October 9, 1954 Champaign #10 Ohio State 40–7 44 October 8, 1955 Columbus Ohio State 27–12 45 October 13, 1956 Champaign #5 Ohio State 26–6 46 October 12, 1957 Columbus Ohio State 21–7 47 October 11, 1958 Champaign #5 Ohio State 19–13 48 October 10, 1959 Columbus #20 Illinois 9–0 49 October 8, 1960 Champaign #5 Ohio State 34–7 50 October 14, 1961 Columbus #7 Ohio State 44–0 51 October 13, 1962 Champaign #10 Ohio State 51–15 52 October 12, 1963 Columbus Tie 20–20 53 October 10, 1964 Champaign #4 Ohio State 26–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 54 October 9, 1965 Columbus Ohio State 28–14 55 October 8, 1966 Champaign Illinois 10–9 56 October 28, 1967 Columbus Illinois 17–13 57 October 26, 1968 Champaign #2 Ohio State 31–24 58 October 25, 1969 Columbus #1 Ohio State 41–0 59 October 24, 1970 Champaign #1 Ohio State 48–29 60 October 9, 1971 Champaign #15 Ohio State 24–10 61 October 14, 1972 Columbus #4 Ohio State 26–7 62 November 3, 1973 Champaign #1 Ohio State 30–0 63 November 2, 1974 Columbus #1 Ohio State 49–7 64 November 8, 1975 Champaign #1 Ohio State 40–3 65 November 6, 1976 Columbus #8 Ohio State 42–10 66 November 5, 1977 Champaign #4 Ohio State 35–0 67 November 11, 1978 Columbus Ohio State 45–7 68 November 3, 1979 Champaign #5 Ohio State 44–7 69 November 8, 1980 Columbus #7 Ohio State 49–42 70 October 17, 1981 Columbus Ohio State 34–27 71 October 16, 1982 Champaign Ohio State 26–21 72 October 15, 1983 Champaign #19 Illinois 17–13 73 October 13, 1984 Columbus #8 Ohio State 45–38 74 October 5, 1985 Champaign Illinois 31–28 75 October 4, 1986 Columbus Ohio State 14–0 76 October 3, 1987 Champaign #9 Ohio State 10–6 77 October 1, 1988 Columbus Illinois 31–12 78 October 7, 1989 Champaign #18 Illinois 34–14 79 October 6, 1990 Columbus #13 Illinois 31–20 80 October 12, 1991 Champaign #20 Illinois 10–7 81 October 10, 1992 Columbus Illinois 18–16 82 October 9, 1993 Champaign #6 Ohio State 20–12 83 October 8, 1994 Columbus Illinois 24–10 84 November 11, 1995 Columbus #2 Ohio State 41–3 85 November 9, 1996 Champaign #2 Ohio State 48–0 86 November 15, 1997 Columbus #4 Ohio State 41–6 87 October 10, 1998 Champaign #1 Ohio State 41–0 88 November 13, 1999 Columbus Illinois 46–20 89 November 11, 2000 Champaign #13 Ohio State 24–21 90 November 17, 2001 Columbus #12 Illinois 34–22 91 November 16, 2002 Champaign #2 Ohio State 23–16 92 November 5, 2005 Columbus #12 Ohio State 40–2 93 November 4, 2006 Champaign #1 Ohio State 17–10 94 November 10, 2007 Columbus Illinois 28–21 95 November 15, 2008 Champaign #10 Ohio State 30–20 96 September 26, 2009 Columbus #13 Ohio State 30–0 97 October 2, 2010† Champaign #2 Ohio State 24–13 98 October 15, 2011 Champaign Ohio State 17–7 99 November 3, 2012 Columbus #6 Ohio State 52–22 100 November 16, 2013 Champaign #3 Ohio State 60–35 101 November 1, 2014 Columbus #13 Ohio State 55–14 102 November 14, 2015 Champaign #2 Ohio State 28–3 103 November 18, 2017 Columbus #9 Ohio State 52–14 Series: Ohio State leads 68–30–4^[2] † Ohio State's victory vacated due to use of ineligible players^[7]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

References

1. "Battle for Illibuck – Men of the Scarlet and Gray.com". November 13, 2013.
2. "Winsipedia - Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Ohio State Buckeyes football series history". Winsipedia.
3. "ILLIBUCK, WHICH DIED, TO BE AT OHIO GAME TODAY—BUT IN EFFIGY". Daily Illini. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
4. . Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
5. "Big Ten schools OK realignment, schedule". ESPN.com. April 28, 2013.
6. "No. 3 Ohio State cancels Saturday's game at Illinois because of COVID-19 cases, putting the Buckeyes 1 cancellation away from being ineligible for the Big Ten title". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
7. "Forfeits and Vacated Games". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.