Ohio State and Illinois will meet for a second straight season after an eight-year pause, with the Illibuck Trophy at stake Saturday. The winner takes a wooden turtle; an SB Nation writer says the tradition, dating to 1925, embodies college football’s campus rituals.
The tradition began in 1925, when Ohio State’s Bucket and Dipper and Illinois’ Atius-Sachem honoraries chose a live turtle as the prize. It died on April 14, 1926, 144 days later, so the schools switched to wooden turtles, with game scores carved into their backs. “Illibuck” combines “Illini” and “Buckeye.”
Illibuck is Ohio State’s only regular-season rivalry trophy and the Big Ten’s second-oldest. Ohio State’s Bucket and Dipper honorary remains responsible for caring for and passing it along. The writer argues that traditions like this gain meaning across generations, even as college football grows richer and more corporate.
