Purdue Boilermakers vs Indiana Hoosiers: the Old Oaken Bucket

Playing for the Old Oaken Bucket

An oak well bucket from a southern Indiana farm, with a chain of I and P links that grows by one every year.

Holder

Indiana

All-time series

Purdue 77-44-6

Trophy era

Purdue 63-34-3

First awarded

1925

Series records as of the end of the 2025 season.

• The very first bucket game was a 0-0 tie, which is why the top link on the chain is a joined 'I-P' link instead of a single letter.
• The bucket may have a Civil War past: Bruner family lore says Confederate raiders under John Hunt Morgan may have drunk from it during their 1863 raid into Indiana.
• The trophy is named for Samuel Woodworth's poem 'The Old Oaken Bucket', a nostalgic look back at a childhood farm well.