Land Grant Trophy

Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry
File:Msu head logo.svg.png	File:Penn State text logo.svg
Teams	Michigan State Spartans Penn State Nittany Lions
First meeting	1914
Latest meeting	2010
Number of Meetings	28
All-Time Series	Michigan State, 13–5–1 (9 Penn State victories were vacated by the NCAA)
Largest victory	Michigan State, 49–14 (1997)
Current Streak	Michigan State, 1 (2010–Present)
Longest Win Streak	Penn State, 4 (1993–96)

The Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Michigan State Spartans football team of Michigan State University and Penn State Nittany Lions football team of Pennsylvania State University. The Land Grant Trophy is presented to the winner of the game. The Spartans are the current holder of the trophy after beating the Nittany Lions 28–22 in 2010; the victory ensured that the Spartans won a share of the 2010 Big Ten Conference championship.

Series history

When Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993, the Nittany Lions and Spartans were designated as permanent rivals, and played each other for the trophy in the last week of conference play. The trophy, designed by former Michigan State coach George Perles, features pictures of Penn State's Old Main and Michigan State's Beaumont Tower. Michigan State won the most recent meeting 28–22 on November 27, 2010, at Beaver Stadium State College, Pennsylvania. Currently, Michigan State leads the series 5–4 due to the vacation of nine Penn State wins as fallout from the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, though only games since Penn State joined the Big Ten are counted.

With the addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten in 2011, Michigan State and Penn State were moved into different divisions and were no longer designated as rivals, meaning they would no longer play each other every year. Instead, Nebraska was designated as the permanent rival for Penn State, and Indiana was designated as the permanent rival for Michigan State. Under this setup, Penn State and Michigan State would compete on average four out of every ten years.[1]

In April 2013, the Big Ten announced the conference would likely realign into two geographically-based divisions and scrap the "Legends" and "Leaders" designations when Maryland and Rutgers join in 2014. Michigan State and Penn State are both in the Eastern division under the tentative plan, and thus would resume a yearly series.

File:Land grant college stamp.jpg

United States Postal Service commemorative stamp

Michigan State University followed by Penn State University are the nation's oldest land-grant universities, hence the name for the trophy. In 1955 on the 100th year anniversary of the founding of the land grant system, Michigan State and Penn State were commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the "First of the Land-Grant Colleges". These two universities were the first ever universities to be placed on a U.S. postage stamp.^{[citation needed]}

They are the 2nd and 3rd most recently joined members of the Big Ten, after Nebraska, who joined in 2011. Fellow Big Ten members Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are also land-grant schools.

Game results

Year	Penn State		Michigan State		Location Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game Template:Land Grant Trophy Game
Current series:			Michigan State leads 12–5–1. All Penn State victories from 1998–2011 were vacated by the NCAA due to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.

See also

• Other Michigan State traveling trophies:
  • Megaphone Trophy (with Notre Dame)
  • Old Brass Spittoon (with Indiana)
  • Paul Bunyan Trophy (with Michigan)
• Other Penn State traveling trophies:
  • Governor's Victory Bell (with Minnesota)

References

• "Series History: Penn State vs. Michigan State". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigten/penn_state/opponents_records.php?teamid=1988. Retrieved 2007-02-26.

External links

• "Land Grant Trophy: a case of envy", Frantz, Jeff, The Daily Collegian, November 23, 2002