Beehive Boot

Brigham Young logo		Utah logo
Utah State logo		Weber State logo

The Beehive Boot, which signifies instate football supremacy among Division I universities from the state of Utah, was conceived in 1971. The authentic pioneer boot, which is estimated to be well over 100 years old, is awarded annually to the Utah school with the best record against its instate NCAA Division I foes. The schools who compete for the boot are Brigham Young, Utah, Utah State, and Weber State. However, because Weber State plays in the Championship Subdivision of Division I (the other three play in the Bowl Subdivision), they rarely play any of their intrastate foes, and thus have never won the boot. In fact, the Wildcats are just 1–15 against BYU, Utah, and Utah State in the 36 years that the trophy has existed, with their lone win being a 44–25 victory over Utah State in 1978.

In case of tie, the winner is chosen by vote of the in-state media. Such an event has only happened three times previously: in 1973, 1997 and 2010. Utah State was awarded the trophy in each year.^[1] Utah was awarded the trophy in 2011, winning their only intrastate game against Brigham Young.

In the addition to the Beehive Boot, BYU and Utah State also play for the Old Wagon Wheel.^[2] The same four universities also play for a state-wide trophy in basketball, called the Old Oquirrh Bucket. However, that trophy is eligible to be won by Southern Utah University and Utah Valley University (both now NCAA Division 1 basketball schools), as well.

History

Brigham Young has the most wins in the series with 22, followed by Utah with 12, and Utah State with 7. After residing in Logan on USU's campus for the first four years of its existence, the trophy spent most of the next two decades in the hands of BYU. The Cougars won the intrastate series 19 of the next 27 years, including five in a row from 1983 to 1987.^[3] Since the mid 1990s, the boot has been back and forth between Salt Lake and Provo many times. Utah had a brief period of success during the early part of this century, winning four straight Beehive Boots from 2002 to 2005. It has also made a couple of trips to Logan during the past couple of decades.

Typically, the trophy goes to the winner of the BYU/Utah game, with the only exception being the seven years that Utah State won it. Though technically possible, the loser of the game between the Cougars and the Utes has never won the Boot. In fact, only three times in history has the winner of the Beehive Boot lost an intrastate game (Utah State in 1973, 1982, and 1997). Utah was awarded the trophy in 2011, winning their only intrastate game against Brigham Young.

The Holy War

See also: Holy War (Utah vs. BYU) and Utah–BYU rivalry

The "Holy War" is one of America's oldest and most heated college football rivalries. In fact, the schools even differ on when the first game was played. Utah claims that the first game was played in 1896 (when Brigham Young University was known as Brigham Young Academy). BYU on the other hand claims that the rivalry dates back to 1922, the first year BYU began playing football. For historical purposes, 1922 is the date most used when referring to the start of the Holy War. The Utes lead the all time series 55–34–4. The Cougars are 26–14 since the Beehive Boot was created in 1971.

The Old Wagon Wheel

BYU and Utah State have met for the Old Wagon Wheel 80 times, dating back to 1922, with BYU holding a 43–34–3 lead. BYU had beaten Utah State ten straight times before Utah State defeated BYU by the score of 31–16 on October 1, 2010. With the victory, Utah State reclaimed the Old Wagon Wheel for the first time since 1993. The Old Wagon Wheel returned to BYU on September 30, 2011, when the Cougars defeated Utah State 27–24.

The Battle of the Brothers

Main article: Battle of the Brothers

The Utah/USU rivalry, often called the Battle of the Brothers, is the most played rivalry between any of the schools that participate in the Beehive Boot series, with 110 total all-time meetings. Utah leads the series 77–28–4, including 12 straight wins and 20 victories in the last 22 meetings.^[4] The first game was played in 1892, a 12-0 Aggie victory, and the Utes and Aggies had met every year from 1944 to 2009 before taking a break. The Utes have won 29 of 39 meetings since the Boot was first awarded, with half of USU's ten victories coming in the first six years after the trophy's creation.

Winners of the trophy

Brigham Young victories are shown in ██ blue, Utah victories in ██ red, Utah State victories in ██ white, and Weber State victories in ██ purple. Rankings under final scores indicate a team's AP Poll ranking prior to that game. Rankings next to a champions name indicate that team's ranking in the final AP Poll for that season. Teams are unranked unless otherwise indicated.

Season	Winner	BYU-UU score	BYU-USU score	BYU-WSU score	UU-USU score	UU-WSU score	USU-WSU score
1971	Utah State (2–0)	17–15	29–7	No Game	21–17	No Game	No Game
1972	Utah State (3–0)	16–7	42–19	No Game	44–16	No Game	20–16
1973	Utah State (2–1) Won over BYU by media vote	46–22	13–7	45–14	31–28	No Game	10–3
1974	Utah State (3–0)	48–20	9–6	No Game	34–0	No Game	20–7
1975	Brigham Young (2–0)	51–20	24–7	No Game	13–7	No Game	30–7
1976	Brigham Young (2–0)	34–12	45–14	No Game	28–17	No Game	36–10
1977	#20 Brigham Young (2–0)	38–8 BYU #14	65–6 BYU #20	No Game	20–0	No Game	23–14
1978	Utah (3–0)	23–22	24–7	No Game	23–20	30–7	44–25
1979	#13 Brigham Young (3–0)	27–0 BYU #10	48–24 BYU #16	48–3	47–21	No Game	34–10
1980	#12 Brigham Young (2–0)	56–6 BYU #13	70–46	No Game	23–19	No Game	50–13
1981	#13 Brigham Young (2–0)	56–28 BYU #18	32–26 BYU #10	No Game	10–0	No Game	31–18
1982	Utah State (2–1)	17–12	20–17	No Game	42–10	No Game	31–10
1983	#7 Brigham Young (2–0)	55–7 BYU #9	38–34 BYU #15	No Game	21–17	No Game	No Game
1984	#1 Brigham Young (2–0)	24–14 BYU #3	38–13 BYU #1	No Game	21–10	52–16	No Game
1985	#16 Brigham Young (2–0)	38–28 BYU #11	44–0 BYU #18	No Game	34–7	No Game	No Game
1986	Brigham Young (2–0)	35–21	52–0 BYU #18	No Game	27–10	No Game	No Game
1987	Brigham Young (2–0)	21–18	45–24	No Game	41–36	No Game	No Game
1988	Utah (2–0)	57–28	38–3	No Game	42–21	No Game	No Game
1989	#22 Brigham Young (2–0)	70–31 BYU #21	37–10	No Game	45–10	No Game	No Game
1990	#22 Brigham Young (2–0)	45–22 BYU #5	45–10 BYU #4	No Game	19–10	No Game	No Game
1991	#23 Brigham Young (2–0)	48–17	38–12	No Game	12–7	No Game	No Game
1992	Brigham Young (2–0)	31–22	30–9	No Game	42–18	No Game	No Game
1993	Utah (2–0)	34–31	58–56	No Game	31–29	No Game	No Game
1994	#10 Utah (2–0)	34–31 UU #21 BYU #20	34–6	No Game	32–17	No Game	No Game
1995	Utah (2–0)	34–17	No Game	No Game	40–20	No Game	No Game
1996	#5 Brigham Young (2–0)	37–17 BYU #8	45–17 BYU #21	No Game	20–17	No Game	No Game
1997	Utah State (1–1) Won over BYU and Utah by media vote	20–14	42–35 BYU #24	No Game	21–14	No Game	No Game
1998	Brigham Young (1–0)	26–24	No Game	No Game	20–12	No Game	No Game
1999	Utah (2–0)	20–17 BYU #19	34–31	No Game	38–18	No Game	No Game
2000	Brigham Young (2–0)	34–27	38–14	No Game	35–14	No Game	No Game
2001	#25 Brigham Young (2–0)	24–21 BYU #8	54–34 BYU #20	No Game	23–19	No Game	36–10
2002	Utah (2–0)	13–6	35–34	No Game	23–3	No Game	No Game
2003	#21 Utah (2–0)	3–0	No Game	No Game	40–20	No Game	No Game
2004	#4 Utah (2–0)	52–21 UU #5	No Game	No Game	48–6 UU #15	No Game	No Game
2005	Utah (2–0)	41–34 (OT)	No Game	No Game	31–7	No Game	No Game
2006	#16 Brigham Young (2–0)	33–31 BYU #21	38–0	No Game	48–0	No Game	No Game
2007	#14 Brigham Young (1–0)	17–10 BYU #23	No Game	No Game	34–18	No Game	No Game
2008	#2 Utah (3–0)	48–24 UU #8 BYU #16	34–14 BYU #8	No Game	58–10 UU #22	37–21 UU #17	No Game
2009	#12 Brigham Young (2–0)	26–23 (OT) BYU #18 UU #22	35–17 BYU #20	No Game	35–17 UU #19	No Game	No Game
2010	Utah State (1–0) Won over Utah by media vote.	17–16 UU #23	31–16	No Game	No Game	No Game	No Game
2011	Utah (1-0)	54–10	27–24	No Game	No Game	No Game	54–17

References

1. ^ http://www.utahstateaggies.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011411aaa.html
2. ^ www.byucougars.com/athletic_department/spirit/wagon_wheel.html
3. ^ BYUCougars.com - BYU Football Press Release
4. ^ Salt Lake Tribune - Ute football: Utes continue to rule Aggies