Victory Bell (Cincinnati - Miami (OH)

From NCAA Wiki

The Miami (OH) Redhawks and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats square off each fall for the famed Victory Bell.

Victory Bell

Rivalry Overview
Schools		Cincinnati, Miami (OH)
Football Record		Miami (OH) Leads the Series 59-47
Basketball Record		Cincinnati leads the Series 91-53
Baseball Record		N/A
Comparison
		UC	MU
University Type		Public	Public
Established		1819
Location		Cincinnati, OH	Oxford, OH
Conference		Big East	MAC
Championships
Enrollment
Colors		Red, Black	Red, White
Nickname		Bearcats	Redhawks
Mascot		Bearcat	Swoop

[edit] History of the Bell

The winning team in the Cincinnati-Miami game gets to carry the Victory Bell. Lore holds that the bell originally hung in Harrison Hall on the Miami campus and tolled in celebration of early MU victories. The bell was allegedly "borrowed" by UC fans in the 1890s as the rivalry intensified and became a trophy exchanged by the teams according to the result of the annual football clash. The bell disappeared in the 1930s--MU fans claimed that UC followers were tired of seeing Miami carry it off, though evidence is not conclusive to support that theory--and reappeared at the 1946 UC-Miami game and is on display at Miami's alumni center. The current trophy is a replica of that bell.

[edit] The Rivalry

Long touted as "the oldest rivalry west of the Alleghenies," the Cincinnati-Miami rivalry is the fifth longest, in terms of games played, in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Of the major rivalries still going on, the UC-Miami rivalry shares the honor of being the oldest with North Carolina-Wake Forest, which also first played in 1888. The first meeting between the two schools, was the first intercollegiate football game played in Ohio. The series has been played each year since 1909 with the exception of 1943 and 1944 when Cincinnati suspended football due to WWII. From 1912-1960 the games were played on Thanksgiving Day.