Paint Bucket Bowl

The Paint Bucket Bowl is the name given to the Arkansas State–Memphis football rivalry.^[1] It is a college football rivalry between the Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Memphis Tigers.

Paint Bucket Bowl

Arkansas State Red Wolves Memphis Tigers
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 27, 1914 First District 18, West Tennessee 6
Latest meeting	September 9, 2023 Memphis 37, Arkansas State 3
Next meeting	September 5, 2026
Trophy	None
Statistics
Meetings total	62
All-time series	Memphis leads, 33–23–5
Largest victory	West Tennessee, 68–0 (1922)
Longest win streak	Memphis, 10 (1991–2004)
Current win streak	Memphis, 4 (2013–present)

30km
19miles

Memphis

Arkansas State

   

Locations of Arkansas State and Memphis

History

The name of the rivalry was created when officials from the two schools decided to create a trophy for the winner of the game out of some buckets of paint and some paint brushes. The losing school also designed a particular area on its campus that the winner could smear with paint, in an attempt to eliminate the defacing of each campus and the "kidnapping" of opposing football players during game week. The tradition evolved into the winning school being given a trophy from the other—a paint bucket decorated in the colors of the two schools and inscribed with the game score.^[2][3] The two teams have met 62 times on the football field, with Memphis currently holding a 33–23–5 edge in the all-time series. The last meeting between the schools was in 2023. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that a further four-year extension of the series will begin in 2026.^[4]

Game results

Arkansas State victories

Memphis victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 27, 1914 Jonesboro, AR First District 18–6 2 October 8, 1915 Jonesboro, AR First District 41–0 3 November 30, 1916 Jonesboro, AR First District 27–0 4 October 19, 1917 Jonesboro, AR First District 19–0 5 November 28, 1918 Jonesboro, AR West Tennessee 37–6 6 October 17, 1919 Jonesboro, AR First District 6–0 7 October 11, 1920 Jonesboro, AR First District 13–0 8 November 11, 1921 Jonesboro, AR First District 19–0 9 November 24, 1922 Memphis, TN West Tennessee 68–0 10 October 27, 1923 Jonesboro, AR West Tennessee 6–0 11 October 9, 1925 Jonesboro, AR First District A&M 19–0 12 October 9, 1926 Memphis, TN First District A&M 7–0 13 November 5, 1927 Jonesboro, AR First District A&M 9–6 14 November 3, 1928 Memphis, TN West Tennessee State 19–14 15 November 1, 1929 Jonesboro, AR West Tennessee State 6–0 16 November 1, 1930 Memphis, TN First District A&M 13–6 17 October 30, 1931 Jonesboro, AR First District A&M 14–6 18 November 2, 1932 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 12–6 19 November 24, 1933 Jonesboro, AR Tie 0–0 20 October 13, 1934 Memphis, TN West Tennessee State 18–0 21 October 4, 1935 Jonesboro, AR Arkansas State 18–0 22 October 1, 1938 Jonesboro, AR West Tennessee State 38–2 23 September 29, 1939 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 7–6 24 November 17, 1947 Memphis, TN Tie 19–19 25 November 19, 1948 Memphis, TN Memphis State 34–13 26 November 12, 1949 Jonesboro, AR Memphis State 61–7 27 November 11, 1950 Memphis, TN Memphis State 60–7 28 November 7, 1953 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 20–0 29 October 30, 1954 Memphis, TN Memphis State 26–7 30 October 29, 1955 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 21–20 31 November 3, 1956 Memphis, TN Memphis State 34–0 32 November 9, 1957 Memphis, TN Memphis State 34–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 33 September 27, 1975 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 29–10 34 October 4, 1980 Memphis, TN Memphis State 24–3 35 November 27, 1982 Memphis, TN Memphis State 12–0 36 November 19, 1983 Memphis, TN Tie 14–14 37 September 1, 1984 Memphis, TN Memphis State 17–2 38 September 13, 1986 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 30–10 39 October 31, 1987 Memphis, TN Tie 21–21 40 September 10, 1988 Memphis, TN Memphis State 9–7 41 September 9, 1989 Memphis, TN Arkansas State 17–13 42 September 1, 1990 Memphis, TN Tie 24–24 43 September 21, 1991 Memphis, TN Memphis State 31–21 44 October 17, 1992 Memphis, TN Memphis State 37–7 45 October 9, 1993 Memphis, TN Memphis State 45–3 46 October 15, 1994 Memphis, TN Memphis 15–6 47 October 11, 1997 Memphis, TN Memphis 38–9 48 October 31, 1998 Memphis, TN Memphis 35–19 49 September 18, 1999 Memphis, TN Memphis 31–26 50 September 16, 2000 Jonesboro, AR Memphis 19–17 51 September 27, 2003 Memphis, TN Memphis 38–16 52 September 18, 2004 Jonesboro, AR No. 25 Memphis 47–35 53 October 14, 2006 Memphis, TN Arkansas State† 26–23 54 September 27, 2007 Jonesboro, AR Arkansas State 35–31 55 September 27, 2008 Memphis, TN Memphis 29–17 56 September 10, 2011 Jonesboro, AR Arkansas State 47–3 57 September 8, 2012 Jonesboro, AR Arkansas State 33–28 58 September 21, 2013 Memphis, TN Memphis 31–7 59 September 5, 2020 Memphis, TN Memphis 37–24 60 September 11, 2021 Jonesboro, AR Memphis 55–50 61 September 17, 2022 Memphis, TN Memphis 44–32 62 September 9, 2023 Jonesboro, AR Memphis 37–3 Series: Memphis leads 33–23–5 † Arkansas State vacated game[5]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games