133 of their 135 meetings are on file: they first met in 1890, and the earliest on file is 1892; officially, Minnesota leads 64–63–8; as played, 63–62–8 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s even at 5–5, and Minnesota has won the last 2. The winner takes home Paul Bunyan’s Axe, played for since 1948. Minnesota has held it since the 2024 game. The official count covers every meeting. Share
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting since 1948 (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). The rivalry’s article counts the games for it: Wisconsin leads, 46–29–3. From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Minnesota’s side (Williams 2–2 against King). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Minnesota WisconsinTicks under the axis: each meeting, in the winner’s color
Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1893 · St. Paul daily globe, Saint Paul, Minn., Nov 12, 1893
1894 · Iowa County democrat, Mineral Point, Wis., Nov 22, 1894
1896 · Iowa County democrat, Mineral Point, Wis., Nov 26, 1896
1897 · The River Falls times, River Falls, Pierce County, Wis., Nov 2, 1897
1898 · Wood County reporter, Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis., Nov 3, 1898
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.
On television
ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from this game once: 2019.
Wisconsin Badgers celebrating their win over Minnesota Golden Gophers by carrying around Paul Bunyan’s Axe after the game Oct 3, 2009Photo: Mark Danielson from Minneapolis, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wisconsin linebacker Mike Taylor pretends to chop down the goalpost with The Axe following Wisconsin’s 38–13 victory over Minnesota in 2012.Photo: Steve, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe 2012 game
From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).
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