The Nickel Trophy is retired. What are the chances of winning a new UND-NDSU travel trophy? -Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — Some college football rituals took place after UND beat North Dakota State 49-24 at the Alerus Center last season.

The students jumped over the railing and stormed the field. The Fighting Hawks players stayed to celebrate with them. The fans who remained in the stands cheered in approval as UND celebrated a highly anticipated win over a rival.

But one thing was missing.

There was no sprint to the end zone to collect a challenge trophy in celebration.

For the first time since 1937, UND did not receive the Nickel Trophy after defeating the Bison.

The Nickel Trophy, which depicts a buffalo on one side and a Native American on the other, was retired after UND removed its “Fighting Sioux” nickname in 2012 and replaced it with the “Fighting Hawks” in 2015.

The Nickel Trophy is now on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck.

The last award came in 2003, when UND defeated NDSU in overtime at the Alerus Center.

The following year, NDSU moved to the Division-I level and the football program did not return to play until 2015 – eight years after UND was promoted to Division-I. They have played as Division I opponents six times, four times since UND joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020, without awarding a trophy.

Will a new challenge cup, a staple of all college football rivalries, soon be reintroduced to the UND-NDSU rivalry?

It doesn’t seem like that.

While UND is open to it, NDSU is not as receptive.

“Now that we’re back in the same conference and playing with a regular rhythm, I think we would definitely be open to that conversation,” UND athletic director Bill Chaves said. “No question.

“At that point there wasn’t much discussion. I think what’s fair is that we needed to give our entrance to the Missouri Valley some breathing room. We were quickly greeted by a global pandemic. It was a bit interesting to say. “At least we’re going to compete against each other every year. The idea of ​​possibly adding a traveling trophy seems logical.

UND is not currently playing for travel trophies.

NDSU introduced the Dakota Marker Trophy for its rivalry with South Dakota State in 2004, when the two programs left the North Central Conference to become DI together.

“I would say quite a few people have asked me that,” NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen said of the launch of a new UND-NDSU trophy. “I would say there is nothing in the works at the moment. It was a big step back when we both moved to Division I and played in two different leagues for more than ten years. The one thing that we’re always worried about and that’s a little bit cautious is that I’ve talked to our football coach and there’s a trophy game every week in the Big 10. This reduces the value of them.

“That doesn’t mean it will never happen. I know we’re not too motivated to do this.”

South Dakota and South Dakota State play for a division-wide sports trophy, the Showdown Series.

“That might be something we’re interested in down the road,” Larsen said.

Larsen said he generally hears questions about bringing back a traveling trophy from older fans who lived through the days of the Nickel Trophy.

“A lot of younger fans and newer student-athletes, if you asked them who our rival is, they would probably say South Dakota State,” Larsen said. “Because of the time UND was in the Big Sky and we were in the Missouri Valley and Summit, we didn’t have as many opportunities to compete against each other. Generations probably see it differently.”

Despite the football rivalry’s 12-year absence, demand for tickets remains high.

The UND-NDSU game is sold out and the cheapest ticket on secondary market site StubHub is $92.

The NDSU-SDSU game scheduled for Oct. 19 in Fargo is not yet sold out.

“It’s an incredibly important three hours for the state of North Dakota and beyond because we have graduates all over the world,” Chaves said. “Whatever it ends up being, it’s an incredibly meaningful and symbolic three hours.”

Although no trophy will be awarded, Larsen said he thinks it’s a good thing that the programs are competing against each other regularly in football again.

“I’ve never experienced this before,” he said. “I’m more of the younger generation who didn’t have the opportunity to experience what this rivalry was like in the ’80s, ’90s and even before. We have a number of rivalries, not just one. I think the in.” I think it means more to some of our local kids who maybe didn’t grow up with it, but are playing in it again, and it means something in their hometowns.

“I think the fact that we are playing against each other now is a good thing. I think it’s a really good thing.”

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the best beat writer for the Herald’s circulation department and once as North Dakota Sportswriter of the Year. He lives in Grand Forks. Reach him at [email protected].