Egg bowl, or “Tamago no Nabe” (卵鍋) in Japan, is a traditional Japanese winter dish. It is an egg casserole with chicken, vegetables and kanten jelly seasoned with soy sauce. But in the US the egg bowl is an annual event that takes place in the spring.
The Egg Bowl is the name given to the college football rivalry game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels. It all started when fans of both schools began an egg hunt at halftime of each game for each team. The first school to find 100 eggs first wins the Egg Bowl. This starts a tradition with fans, players, family members etc. playing along in some way every home game.
Many people who live in the US as well as those who don’t know as much about college football as those of us from other countries. They know about “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan, they might be aware of Auburn vs Alabama (by virtue of its recent national championship), and quite a few fans follow their teams’ rivalries.
Fun Fact about Egg Bowl
However, there’s one game that might be the most important game to US college football fans: Mississippi State vs Ole Miss (or “The Egg Bowl”). As you may already know, Mississippi is not the best state at the moment. It ranked first in all of America for teen pregnancy by a huge margin (Texas was second). This is ironic because the game was initially created to reduce premarital sex!
Mississippi State and Mississippi University for Women at the time were fiercely competitive rivals. The state governor, J. V. Brown, announced a competition between the two teams where he would buy hens from whichever school won their annual contest. In 3 years, Mississippi farmers donated over 700 eggs to support the governor’s bet! The event soon became a state-wide tradition!
It didn’t take long before students at Ole Miss realized this was their chance to make things even more interesting. They created the “Golden Egg” trophy that would be awarded to the winner of each contest. Each school’s newspaper, yearbook and radio station started having their own betting pools for each game. Not to be outdone, students at Mississippi State created the “Golden Egg Flag” in 1963 and continued the tradition of having their own betting pools.
In 1988, when Ole Miss’ athletic department was struggling under heavy sanctions for NCAA violations, they stole the Golden Egg trophy from MSU and hid it in a storage building until it was recovered by police officers.
In 1998, the “Egg Bowl” was officially renamed the “Magnolia Bowl” and a giant magnolia tree was planted behind one of the end zones.
- Fun Fact about Egg Bowl Traditions Mississippi State won the Magnolia Bowl that year and for some time now it has been known as the “Egg Bowl.”
- Fun Fact about Egg Bowl Traditions Ole Miss used to have a live Mascot Bulldog wearing an old school football uniform that would race across the field before games.
History of the Egg Bowl game
It started as a way to celebrate Easter and has become a tradition for many football fans. The first game was played in 1901, with Ole Miss winning over Mississippi A&M (now known as MSU). This year’s edition of the game will be the 112th. If you looked at most betting sites , it would seem like Ole Miss is going to win this one. They’re favoured by 7 points and boast a much better overall record (8-3 vs 4-7).
However, the Bulldogs (Mississippi State’s team name) won last year and has beaten Ole Miss two years in a row.
When is the Egg Bowl 2016?
In 2016, Ole Miss will be facing off against Mississippi State at 11am CT on April 2nd
If you’re not already familiar with this southern football tradition, now is the perfect time to get excited about it!
The Egg Bowl is a great tradition that brings together fans and students of Mississippi’s two biggest universities. The first game was played in 1901 and this year will be the 112th (2016).
