If you’re a fan of college football, especially the Penn State Nittany Lions, or Michigan State Spartans, you know about everyones favorite ugly ducking trophy. The Land-Grant Trophy. Before the trophy entered the conversation though, the first game was played in 1914.
A Brief History Of The Series And Trophy
This series, known as “The Land-Grant Series” is played between the nations first to land-grant colleges. The first game in 1914 was won by Michigan State, and in fact, would go 8-1-1 in that time. In this time the Spartans would win 4 national championships.
By 1993, Penn State had joined the Big Ten Conference, marking the beginning of the series to be played every year. This is when “the most beautiful trophy in all of college football” (according to Penn State head coach James Franklin) was created. Since joining the conference, Penn State leads 15-9, while Michigan State leads the all-time series 17-16-1.
How It Became A Meme
In today’s golden age of the internet, it doesn’t take much for people to find a joke in anything. College football’s greatest trophy would not be an exception. One twitter account has dedicated its whole account to the series. Seeing the accounts location, you can see it is listed in State College, Pa. This is because Penn State is the current Land-Grant Champion.
Whether you enjoy the trophy for the jokes, or just enjoy a college football rivalry, this series has something for everyone. Through many of these games, the teams seasons carried heavy implications, which is what may make this trophy so meme-able and memorable.