The College Football MacGuffin's 2024 Journey

The football season has already ended for hundreds of schools; Conference Championship trophies and rivalry game prizes are taking pride of place in teams' trophy cabinets while Bowl Game trophies and a National Championship trophy are on the search for their new homes. One accolade that has found its off-season home but cannot be put on display (in fact, the holders may not even know they have it) is the College Football MacGuffin.

The Ring in Lord of the Rings is a great example of a MacGuffin

The College Football MacGuffin is an invisible award, tracked by enthusiasts online, but is rooted in the entire history of football. When Rutgers beat Princeton in 1869, Princeton handed them a little box said to contain the 'secret formula to winning'. When Princeton won the return fixture a week later, Rutgers returned the little wooden box. For nearly 30 years, the box would trade hands whenever the holder was beaten until it got lost in the mid-1890s.

Despite it getting lost nearly 130 years ago, online enthusiats have forged a community of individuals who have managed to track where that little wooden box would be if it was still in circulation. During the 23-24 season, it didn't travel very much. It landed in Washington during the 2022 season and stayed there all the way until the 8th of Jan 2024 when Michigan beat the Huskies in the National Championship game. Thankfully (for some), it managed to get a little more mileage in 2024. We tracked its journey throughout the season and here's how it went.

Michigan Wolverines - 1 Game Hold (243 days)

Gained: beat Washington in National Championship

Game 1: beat Fresno State 30-10

Texas Longhorns - 4 Game Hold (43 days)

Gained: beat Michigan 31-12

Game 1: beat UTSA 56-7

Game 2: beat LA Monroe 51-3

Game 3: beat MS State 35-13

Game 4: beat Oklahoma 35-3

Georgia Bulldogs - 1 Game Hold (21 days)

Gained: beat Texas 30-15

Game 1: Florida 34-20

Ole Miss Rebels - 0 Game Hold (14 days)

Gained: beat Georgia 28-10

Florida Gators - 2 Game Hold*

Gained: beat Ole Miss 24-17

Game 1: beat Florida State 31-11

Game 2: beat Tulane 33-8

*streak ongoing

Florida lift Gasparilla Bowl to hold MacGuffin until 2025 season...

From starting in one of the northernmost schools, to finishing at one of the countries southernmost, the College Football MacGuffin has landed itself 5 different homes through the 2024 season.

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