Beehive Boot | ||
The Beehive Boot | ||
BYU Cougars |
Utah Utes | Utah State Aggies |
Originated: | 1971 | |
Current Holder: | Utah | |
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BYU (22) 1975 1976 1977 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1996 1998 2000 2001 2006 2007 2009 |
Utah (15) 1978 1988 1993 1994 1995 1999 2002 2003 2004 2005 2008 2011 2013 2015 2016 |
Utah State (9) 1971 1972 1973 1974 1982 1997 2010 2012 2014 |
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 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 (BYU's win over Weber State was not counted towards their instate record).
In case of tie, the winner is chosen by vote of the in-state media. Such an event has only happened four times previously: in 1973, 1997, 2010, and in 2012. Utah State was awarded the trophy in each year. Utah is the most recent champion, taking home the trophy in 2016 after being the only team with an unbeaten in-state record.
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.