Sitting Bull Trophy

The Sitting Bull Trophy is the name of the rivalry trophy that was awarded to the winner of the annual football game between the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly the North Dakota Fighting Sioux) and the University of South Dakota Coyotes. The rivalry stems from the time the two teams spent competing together in the North Central Conference (1922–2007)^[1] and later in the Great West Conference (2008–2011).

Sitting Bull Trophy

North Dakota Fighting Hawks South Dakota Coyotes
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 7, 1903 North Dakota 6, South Dakota 0
Latest meeting	November 16, 2024 South Dakota 42, North Dakota 36
Next meeting	November 1, 2025
Trophy	None (formerly the Sitting Bull Trophy)
Statistics
Meetings total	101
All-time series	North Dakota leads, 63–33–5
Largest victory	North Dakota, 55–0 (1963)
Longest win streak	North Dakota, 11 (1928–1941)
Current win streak	South Dakota, 2 (2023–present)

200km
124miles

South Dakota

North Dakota

   

Locations of North Dakota and South Dakota

The Trophy

The oak bust, displaying a picture of Sitting Bull, designed in 1953 after a suggestion by newspaperman Al Neuharth.^[2] The inspiration for the trophy was a minor 1953 dispute over which state was home to the final resting place of the famed chief, after it revealed that Sitting Bull's family members had exhumed and reinterred what they believed to be his remains, moving them from Fort Yates, North Dakota to Mobridge, South Dakota.^[2] In 2000, the Sitting Bull Trophy retired, amid the ongoing NCAA controversy over the use of Native American names and symbols by its member institutions.^[3]

Future

Previously, the two teams were not currently competing in the same conference, with North Dakota joining the Big Sky Conference and South Dakota joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference following the demise of Great West Conference football in 2011. 2012 marked the first year the two teams did not play each other since the 1940s, when World War II interrupted the rivalry; however, they both played each other in 2016 and 2017 in non-conference play. The two teams have met 101 times on the football field, with North Dakota currently holding a 63–33–5 edge in the all-time series. North Dakota joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020, renewing the annual rivalry.

Game results

North Dakota victories

South Dakota victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 7, 1903 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 6–0 2 November 11, 1908 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 10–4 3 November 9, 1912 Sioux Falls, SD South Dakota 44–0 4 October 31, 1914 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 30–3 5 November 13, 1915 Sioux Falls, SD Tie 0–0 6 October 28, 1916 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 20–0 7 October 13, 1917 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 19–0 8 October 18, 1919 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 13–0 9 November 6, 1920 Vermillion, SD Tie 7–7 10 October 22, 1921 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 21–0 11 October 14, 1922 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 7–0 12 October 13, 1923 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 13–6 13 October 11, 1924 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 6–0 14 October 17, 1925 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 3–0 15 October 16, 1926 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 12–0 16 October 15, 1927 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 6–0 17 November 10, 1928 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 6–0 18 October 12, 1929 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 13–7 19 November 15, 1930 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 21–0 20 October 9, 1931 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 52–6 21 October 13, 1933 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 41–0 22 October 6, 1934 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 21–0 23 October 11, 1935 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 25–0 24 November 13, 1936 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 6–0 25 October 1, 1937 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 13–7 26 November 9, 1940 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 13–0 27 October 11, 1941 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 14–7 28 November 13, 1942 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 26–0 29 October 5, 1946 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 21–6 30 November 1, 1947 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 20–7 31 October 16, 1948 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 13–7 32 October 1, 1949 Vermillion, SD Tie 7–7 33 October 14, 1950 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 28–7 34 November 10, 1951 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 35–13 35 October 4, 1952 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 21–14 36 November 14, 1953 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 18–14 37 October 9, 1954 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 27–21 38 November 12, 1955 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 18–14 39 October 6, 1956 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 32–14 40 October 5, 1957 Vermillion, SD Tie 27–27 41 October 4, 1958 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 28–14 42 October 3, 1959 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 31–14 43 October 1, 1960 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 27–7 44 October 7, 1961 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 21–7 45 November 10, 1962 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 31–0 46 November 9, 1963 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 55–0 47 October 24, 1964 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 21–14 48 October 23, 1965 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 33–7 49 October 8, 1966 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 31–17 50 October 7, 1967 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 9–6 51 September 28, 1968 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 17–16 No. Date Location Winner Score 52 September 27, 1969 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 35–26 53 September 19, 1970 Grand Forks, ND Tie 14–14 54 November 6, 1971 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 29–21 55 September 23, 1972 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 33–3 56 November 3, 1973 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 54–21 57 October 26, 1974 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 27–24 58 October 25, 1975 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 27–17 59 October 9, 1976 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 14–7 60 October 8, 1977 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 20–0 61 October 28, 1978 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 24–7 62 October 20, 1979 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 23–22 63 October 11, 1980 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 32–24 64 October 3, 1981 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 27–0 65 September 25, 1982 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 10–9 66 November 5, 1983 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 26–16 67 November 3, 1984 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 16–14 68 September 21, 1985 Grand Forks, ND South Dakota 45–3 69 September 20, 1986 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 28–12 70 November 7, 1987 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 30–29 71 November 5, 1988 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 24–9 72 September 23, 1989 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 17–14 73 September 22, 1990 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 46–12 74 September 28, 1991 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 21–6 75 September 26, 1992 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 52–3 76 November 6, 1993 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 42–7 77 November 5, 1994 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 23–20 78 October 21, 1995 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 35–0 79 October 26, 1996 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 29–6 80 November 1, 1997 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 20–19 81 October 31, 1998 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 33–14 82 September 18, 1999 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 17–10 83 September 16, 2000 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 42–14 84 November 10, 2001 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 48–7 85 November 16, 2002 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 20–0 86 November 8, 2003 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 37–3 87 November 6, 2004 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 41–21 88 November 5, 2005 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 42–30 89 November 11, 2006 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 33–26 90 November 10, 2007 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 31–27 91 November 22, 2008 Vermillion, SD North Dakota 34–31 92 October 3, 2009 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 27–12 93 October 2, 2010 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 27–17 94 November 19, 2011 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 38–37 95 September 17, 2016 Grand Forks, ND North Dakota 47–44 96 September 16, 2017 Vermillion, SD #23 South Dakota 45–7 97 March 4, 2021[a] Grand Forks, ND #4 North Dakota 21–10 98 October 9, 2021 Vermillion, SD South Dakota 20–13 99 November 12, 2022 Grand Forks, ND #19 North Dakota 28–19 100 November 11, 2023 Vermillion, SD #6 South Dakota 14–10 101 November 16, 2024 Grand Forks, ND #5 South Dakota 42–36 Series: North Dakota leads 63–33–5

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

Notes

1. Played in the 2020–21 school year. Due to COVID-19, the MVFC moved its conference season from fall 2020 to spring 2021.