Border Battle

2011-12  UW 455 - UM 425

2010-11  UW 425 - UM 455

2009-10  UW 330 - UM 550

2008-09  UW 345 - UM 535

2007-08  UW 465 - UM 415

2006-07  UW 445 - UM 435

2005-06  UW 350 - UM 530

2004-05  UW 235 - UM 205

Border Battle Year Six

With the sixth season of the Border Battle competition between the athletic programs at Minnesota and Wisconsin concluded, Minnesota tied the series at 3-3 with a 550-330 advantage in 2009-10. It was Minnesota's second-straight series win having beaten the Badgers 535-345 last year.

The annual battle for border supremacy between the Athletic Departments at the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota is determined by awarding points to the school which wins in head-to-head competition, or to the team which finishes higher at the Big Ten championship in the 11 sports in which the Badgers and Golden Gophers don't have a head-to-head competition. The overall winner of the season-long event wins the Border Battle Trophy for display on its campus. The total number of points available for the 29 competitions is 840.

In the 11 sports which compete in head-to-head competition, 40 points are at stake. If the teams meet just once annually (football as an example), then the winner gets 40 points and the loser gets zero. If the teams meet twice (women's basketball, for example), the winner of each game gets 20 points and the losers get zero. If the teams meet four times (men's hockey for example), then the winner of each game gets 10 points and the loser gets zero. If a game ends in a tie, the points are split (20 to each school).

Where team scoring is dependent upon tournament outcomes, 40 points is awarded to the higher finishing school at the Big Ten championship. This affects the sports of men's and women's cross country, swimming and diving, golf, indoor track and outdoor track and women's rowing.

Six sports are sponsored by only one of the institutions and, thus, not included in the Border Battle. Wisconsin has men's soccer, men's rowing and women's lightweight rowing (UM does not), while Minnesota has baseball and men's and women's gymnastics (UW does not).

The Badgers had the advantage in this competition having won three of the first four years. In 2008, the competition came down to the last weekend for the third time. UW scored in 17 events totaling 465 points while Minnesota scored in 15 events for 415 points.

Wisconsin won the inaugural trophy in 2005 by the score of 235-205, while the Gophers tied the series with 530 points to UWs 350 in 2005-06. In the closest competition, the Badgers won the 2007 title by just 10 points after leading most of the 2006-07 sports seasons. Minnesota closed the gap in the final two months to come within 445-435.