Beehive Boot


The Beehive Boot, which signifies instate football supremacy among Division I FBS universities from the state of Utah, was conceived in 1971. The authentic pioneer boot, which is estimated to be well over 100 years old, is typically awarded annually to the Utah school with the best record against its instate NCAA Division I FBS foes. The schools who compete for the boot are Brigham Young, Utah, and Utah State. Weber State was originally eligible to win the trophy and games against them counted towards their opponents' record when determining the winner of the trophy. It is unclear when this stopped being the case, but it was at least by 2012, when Utah State won the trophy over BYU.
In the case of three-way ties between the schools, the winner was chosen by vote of the in-state media. Such an event has happened four times previously: in 1973, 1997, 2010, and in 2012. Utah State was awarded the trophy in each year. The 2017 season also ended with a tie where both Utah and Utah State defeated BYU, but did not play each other. However, no winner was officially awarded the Beehive Boot.
Utah is the most recent winner in 2016 after being the only team with an unbeaten in-state record. However, it has not been awarded since 2016.
In addition to the Beehive Boot, BYU and Utah State also play for The Old Wagon Wheel. The same three universities, along with Weber State University, Southern Utah University, and Utah Valley University, also played for a statewide trophy in basketball called the Old Oquirrh Bucket until the 2010 season, when it was retired due to conference realignments. Along with the Florida Cup, Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and the Michigan MAC Trophy, the Beehive Boot is one of the few three-way FBS rivalries that presents a trophy to the winner.

History

Brigham Young has the most wins in the series with 22, followed by Utah with 15, and Utah State with 9. After residing in Logan on USU's campus for the first four years of its existence, the trophy spent most of the next two decades in the hands of BYU. The Cougars won the intrastate series 19 of the next 27 years, including five in a row from 1983 to 1987. Since the mid-1990s, the boot has been back and forth between Salt Lake and Provo many times. Utah had a brief period of success during the early part of this century, winning four straight Beehive Boots from 2002 to 2005. It has also made a couple of trips to Logan during the past couple of decades.
Historically, the trophy goes to the winner of the BYU-Utah game. Only nine times has that not happened: the years when Utah State has won it.
Only four times in history has the winner of the Beehive Boot lost an intrastate game.

The Holy War

The "Holy War" is one of America's oldest and most heated college football rivalries. In fact, the schools even differ on when the first game was played. Utah claims that the first game was played in 1896. BYU on the other hand claims that the rivalry dates back to 1922, the first year BYU began playing football. For historical purposes, 1922 is the date most used when referring to the start of the Holy War. The Utes lead the all-time series 60–34–4. The Cougars are 26–20 since the Beehive Boot was created in 1971.

The Old Wagon Wheel

BYU and Utah State have met for the Old Wagon Wheel 88 times, dating back to 1922, with BYU holding a 48–37–3 lead. BYU had beaten Utah State ten straight times before Utah State defeated BYU by the score of 31–16 on October 1, 2010. With the victory, Utah State reclaimed the Old Wagon Wheel for the first time since 1993, and subsequently took the trophy in 2014, 2017, and 2018.

The Battle of the Brothers

The Utah/USU rivalry, often called the Battle of the Brothers, is the most played rivalry between any of the schools that participate in the Beehive Boot series, with 112 total all-time meetings. Utah leads the series 79–29–4, and Utah has won 22 victories in the last 25 meetings. The first game was played in 1892, a 12-0 Aggie victory, and the Utes and Aggies had met every year from 1944 to 2009 before taking a break. The Utes have won 31 of 42 meetings since the Boot was first awarded, with 5 of USU's 11 victories coming in the first 6 years after the trophy's creation.

Winners of the trophy

Rankings next to a champion's name indicate that team's ranking in the final AP Poll for that season. Teams are unranked unless otherwise indicated. Games against Weber State are included up until 1982, the last year that these games were certain to have counted towards each teams' interstate record.
Brigham Young victoriesUtah victoriesUtah State victoriesNo game/Future events

SeasonWinnerBYU-UU scoreBYU-USU scoreUU-USU score
1971Utah State 17–1529–721–17
1972Utah State 16–742–1944–16
1973Utah State
Won over BYU by media vote
46–2213–731–28
1974Utah State 48–209–634–0
1975Brigham Young 51–2024–713–7
1976Brigham Young 34–1228–1736–10
1977#20 Brigham Young 38–8
BYU #14
65–6
BYU #20
20–0
1978Utah 23–2224–723–20
1979#13 Brigham Young 27–0
BYU #10
48–24
BYU #16
47–21
1980#12 Brigham Young 56–6
BYU #13
70–4623–19
1981#13 Brigham Young 56–28
BYU #18
32–26
BYU #10
10–0
1982Utah State 17–1220–1742–10
1983#7 Brigham Young 55–7
BYU #9
38–34
BYU #15
21–17
1984#1 Brigham Young 24–14
BYU #3
38–13
BYU #1
21–10
1985#16 Brigham Young 38–28
BYU #11
44–0
BYU #18
34–7
1986Brigham Young 35–2152–0
BYU #18
27–10
1987Brigham Young 21–1845–2441–36
1988Utah 57–2838–342–21
1989#22 Brigham Young 70–31
BYU #21
37–1045–10
1990#22 Brigham Young 45–22
BYU #5
45–10
BYU #4
19–10
1991#23 Brigham Young 48–1738–1212–7
1992Brigham Young 31–2230–942–18
1993Utah 34–3158–5631–29
1994#10 Utah 34–31
UU #21
BYU #20
34–632–17
1995Utah 34–17No Game40–20
1996#5 Brigham Young 37–17
BYU #8
45–17
BYU #21
20–17
1997Utah State
Won over BYU and Utah by media vote
20–1442–35
BYU #24
21–14
1998Brigham Young 26–24No Game20–12
1999Utah 20–17
BYU #19
34–3138–18
2000Brigham Young 34–2738–1435–14
2001#25 Brigham Young 24–21
BYU #8
54–34
BYU #20
23–19
2002Utah 13–635–3423–3
2003#21 Utah 3–0No Game40–20
2004#4 Utah 52–21
UU #5
No Game48–6
UU #15
2005Utah 41–34 No Game31–7
2006#16 Brigham Young 33–31
BYU #21
38–048–0
2007#14 Brigham Young 17–10
BYU #23
No Game34–18
2008#2 Utah 48–24
UU #8
BYU #16
34–14
BYU #8
58–10
UU #22
2009#12 Brigham Young 26–23
BYU #18
UU #22
35–17
BYU #20
35–17
UU #19
2010Utah State
Won over Utah by media vote
17–16
UU #23
31–16No Game
2011Utah 54–1027–24No Game
2012#16 Utah State
Won over BYU and Utah by media vote
24–21
BYU #25
6–327–20
2013Utah 20–1331–1430–26
2014Utah State No Game35–20
BYU #18
No Game
2015#17 Utah 35–28
Las Vegas Bowl
UU #20
51–2824–14
UU #24
2016#23 Utah 20–1928–10No Game
2017Not awarded19–1340–24No Game
2018Not awarded35–27
UU #18
45–20No Game
2019Not awarded30–12
UU #14
42–14No Game
2020September 3rd, 2020October 2nd, 2020No Game Scheduled