| Tri-State Big Three | ||
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| Penn State Nittany Lions | Pittsburgh Panthers | West Virginia Mountaineers |
| Trophy: | Old Ironsides (1951–84) | |
| First qualifying year: | 1900 | |
| First full round-robin: | 1904 | |
| Longest streak: | Penn State (1966–75) | |
| Latest champion: | Penn State (2023)* | |
| District Championships | ||
| Penn State (12) 1901 1905 1906 1908 1909 1919 1939 1941 1942 1943 1947 1950 |
Pitt (24) 1904 1907 1910 1913 1917 1920 1921 1924 1925 1926 1927 1929 1930 1931 1935 1936 1937 1938 1940 1944 1945 1946 1948 1949 |
WVU (2) 1922 1928 |
| Outright trophy victories | ||
| Penn State (21) 1952 1958 1960 1961 1962 1964 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 |
Pitt (6) 1951 1955 1963 1976 1979 1980 |
WVU (2) 1953 1984 |
| *No official champions have been crowned since 1984 | ||
Old Ironsides was the trophy awarded for the three-way college football rivalry between Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and West Virginia University. Although Old Ironsides is the most distinctive aspect of the rivalry, the trophy was long predated by the significance of the universities' collegiate football matches.
In 1984, staff from the Penn State Athletics Department informed their counterparts at Pittsburgh and West Virginia that the trophy went missing at some point while in Penn State's possession. The resulting searches yielded no trace and the Old Ironsides trophy was lost.
As a result of the reduced frequency of competitions between the schools and the disappearance of Old Ironsides, the triangular rivalry is largely viewed in the scope of the individual head-to-head rivalries and not a unified competition between all three.
The three schools were often referred to as the "Tri-State Big Three" or simply the "Big Three".[1] This naming both predated and coexisted with the Old Ironsides trophy. Prior to and concurrent with the attached trophy, the winner of the triangular rivalry was named the "district Big Three champion".[2][3]
- ^ Smith, Chester L. (October 27, 1951). "State Renews Old Feud with West Virginia". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 6. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ Hughes, Carl (November 19, 1951). "Teams Rates Even Despite WVU Evidence". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 37. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ Cope, Myron (November 15, 1954). "Pitt in Muddle for State Tilt-Who's on First?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 26. Retrieved December 22, 2023.