Little Danny
Don't tell an old timer this game isn't important.....
It was a blustery winter day on Dec. 8, 1888, when Miami University and the University of Cincinnati met on the football field for the first time.
In a game played in a freezing rain, a smallish Miami football team, averaging just 140 lbs. per man, battled to a 0-0 tie versus a stout Cincinnati team, averaging 160 lbs. per man, and one of college football’s great rivalries was born.
Over the years, the two rivals, located just 35 minutes apart, have clashed 114 times to forge one of the five most-played rivalries in NCAA I-A football.
The team’s 115th meeting is scheduled for Oct. 2, 2010 at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium.
Miami leads the overall series 59-48-7.
The original battle was set up in 1888 when a young faculty hailing from the East brought the game to Miami’s campus.
Led by 27-year old President Ethelbert Dudley Warfield and fueled by faculty members and former football standouts Marc Parrott from Princeton and Walter
Ray Bridgman from Yale, the innovative Eastern game of football was
introduced on Miami's campus.
A team was soon organized and a challenge soon issued to the nearest college—Cincinnati.
As there were no rules regarding eligibility in those days, much of Miami’s faculty proposed to play in the game.
Even President Warfield expected to play, until an overzealous sophomore injured him in practice and relegated him to referee duties.
In a muddy game played in the midst of Miami’s campus, the Red and White used its experience to help balance out Cincinnati’s size advantage.
The final score of 0-0 left unfinished business that the two teams have been settling annually for more than 116 years.
Since 1909, the rivalry has been almost seamless.
With the exception of the 1943-44 seasons, when World War II was raging, the teams have met in 97 of the past 99 seasons, including each of the past 63 years.
The tradition of the Victory Bell, which is the trophy given to the winner of the Miami/UC game, began in the 1890’s when a group of Cincinnati fans “borrowed” the bell from the orginal Harrison Hall.
The bell went to the winner of the game over the next 30 years until it disappeared during the 1930’s.
The original bell reappeared in 1946 but was retired and is currently being preserved.
The current trophy is a replica of the original bell.
ncaa division i-a most-played rivalries
games ......opponents ............................................. record ........... began
119 ...............minnesota-wisconsin ..................................... 59-52-8 ..................1890
118 ...............kansas-missouri ................................................ 54-55-9 ..................1891
116 ...............nebraska-kansas .............................................. 90-23-3 ..................1892
116 ...............texas-texas a&m........................................... .... 75-36-5 ..................1894
114 ...........miami-cincinnati .................................. 59-48-7 ..............1888
113 ...............auburn-georgia ................................................ 53-52-8 ..................1892
113 ...............oregon-oregon state ...................................57-46-10 ..................1894
112 ...............purdue-indiana ................................................. 70-36-6 ..................1891
112 ...............stanford-california .........................................56-45-11 ..................1892
miami-cincinnati rivalry tidbits
• Miami’s rivalry with Cincinnati is the longest-lasting collegiate football rivarly
West of the Allegheny Mountains.
• The only long-running Division I-A football rivalry that began prior to the
Miami-Cincinnati rivalry was the rivalry between Wake Forest and North Carolina,
which was played for the fi rst time less than two months before the inital Miami-
Cincinnati clash. The Tar Heels and Demon Deacons have met 102 times since 1888.
It wasn't called Harrison Hall in 1890. It was called Old Main.
UC wins 45-3.
justincredible;514271 wrote:UC wins 45-3.