College Football: 25 most underappreciated team rivalries of all time

15. Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Playing a college football game for a trophy that’s called Paul Bunyan’s Axe (and that lives up to its name) is going to make for great entertainment.

That’s what the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers do every year when the two Big Ten rivals square off. Heck, even before Paul Bunyan’s Axe came into existence in 1948, the two teams played for the Slab of Bacon. You’ve got to love that.

With 128 games played since their first meeting back in 1890, the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry also holds the distinction of being the most-played rivalry game in FBS history. That certainly adds another element of intrigue to this matchup given the immense amount of history involved. Furthermore, the incredible parity over those 128 meetings makes things even more fascinating.

After that many meetings, you’d think that one team would have the edge in the rivalry, but that’s not the case. The series is tied at 60-60-8 with Minnesota’s upset win over the Badgers in 2018 tying the rivalry back up. The Golden Gophers’ win came after Wisconsin took the series lead for the first time in history.

Having said that, the reason the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe has become underappreciated is because of Wisconsin’s recent stranglehold on the rivalry. Before that 2018 loss, the Badgers had won 14-straight against Minnesota and had gone 21-2 overall in the previous 23 matchups. If the Golden Gophers can get things going more back-and-forth, how do you not appreciate a rivalry such as this?