Things are looking pretty good for the Wisconsin Badgers football team, currently situated at No. 5 in the playoff ranking and with the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes having lost on Friday to unranked and formerly-coached-by-Paul-Chryst Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
But there are still a few obstacles on the road to the national championship. First among those are the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, who may not be ranked nationally but of course neither was Pitt. On paper, however, this looks to be an easy win for Wisconsin. (knocks furiously on all wood in area)<\/em><\/p>\n Before the game kicks off in Minneapolis, get to know our neighbors to the west.<\/span>\n Minnesota is Wisconsin\u2019s oldest rival in the Big Ten, and the two schools make up the longest continuous rivalry in college football. Each year, the Badgers and Gophers football men battle it out for \u201cPaul Bunyan\u2019s Axe.\u201d Created by The National W Club, the Axe has been a tradition since 1948. The winner keeps it at their respective campus until the other team claims it back; with 42 wins to the Gophers\u2019 24, the Axe has spent more time in Madison than Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Also, fun fact: The original trophy wasn\u2019t an axe at all, but rather the \u201cSlab of Bacon<\/a>.\u201d It went missing in 1943 after Minnesota coach George Hauser refused it out of respect for the Allied troops in World War II. No, for real<\/a>. In 1994, the Slab was found in an old Camp Randall Stadium storage closet by a Wisconsin intern.<\/span>\nThe Battle for Paul Bunyan\u2019s Axe<\/h2>\n