There are many strange traditions in college football and the kinds of things that make casual fans scratch their heads in bewilderment are, in many cases, the exact same things that make extremely jealous fanatic fans love their favorite pastime even more. One of the strangest traditions in college football is that the annual state rivalry football game between Indiana University (located in Bloomington, IN) and Purdue University (located in West Lafayette, IN) has been played for decades. for a rather unique trophy titled the Old Oak Cube.
To understand the rationale behind the unique title of this head-to-head match, the historical origin of the term must first be understood. The traveling trophy known as the Old Oaken Bucket actually dates back to the 1920s and is one of the oldest football trophies in existence. The trophy concept that two Big Ten Conference rivals are now fighting for was first thought of at a 1925 alumni meeting in Chicago. Both Hoosiers and Boilermakers students met to discuss options for how to best commemorate the spirited rivalry between the two schools that are less than 115 miles apart.
The bizarre specific phrase oak cube is jointly attributed to Dr. Clarence Jones (an Indiana student) and Russel Gray (a Purdue student). The language of the resolution was approved at a later 1925 joint alumni meeting in Chicago and essentially stated that an “old oak cube” (oak simply means made of oak) would be better because it was believed to be “the most typical Hoosier trophy “. In this specific case, the word Hoosier did not refer specifically to the Hoosiers of Indiana University, but to all the citizens of Indiana who are collectively known as Hoosiers. This, of course, would include the Purdue students and alumni who also fell under the Hoosiers umbrella. In fact, Indiana’s state nickname is Hoosier State.
The origin and inspiration of the phrase old oak cube actually predates the 1925 joint alumni meetings between Purdue and Indiana by about a hundred years. Dr. Jones and Mr. Gray chose the term old oak cube in part because it is the title of a now famous poem that the poet Samuel Woodworth wrote in 1817. Although Woodworth was an American from the East Coast (Massachusetts) and not Indiana the Eloquent The words he wrote about the fond memories he had of the place where he grew up were feelings that many natives of Indiana could relate to.
Interestingly, the first game of this epic series ended in a 0-0 draw in 1925. Since then, Purdue has led the Old Oaken Bucket series with a 56-23-3 record against the Indiana University (IU) Hoosiers.