A deep dive into the mysterious Platypus Trophy of the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry

"EUGENE, Oregon -- College football is ultimately just one big trophy case. Every lobby of every team facility greets visitors with awards and placards of all sorts, be they crystal footballs, actual bowls from bowl game victories or old oaken buckets and brass spittoons. But on Saturday (3 p.m. ET), when Oregon and Oregon State square off in Eugene, there will be no official postgame award exchange. No reluctant turning over of a rusty memento from years gone by with some elaborate sort-of-true backstory."

"That makes no sense. Not for a game that is being played for the 129th time, the most of any rivalry in the western half of the country and the fifth most all time in the entire FBS. Ducks vs. Beavers has history, stars, drama, all of it. It just doesn't have a trophy. Or does it? The answer is yes. Well, partially yes. There is a trophy. It is not officially official, but it is officially real."

"It's the Platypus Trophy, and precisely like its namesake, it has spent the past 66 years stealthily burrowing its way in and out of obscurity along the 44 miles that separate Corvallis and Eugene. And, like any real platypus, it even found its way into the water. "It's a weird animal. It's weird. It doesn't actually come from a duck and a beaver, but it sure looks like it does," explains Raphe Beck, executive director of the University of Oregon Alumni Association and current keeper of the trophy."

The Oregon–Oregon State rivalry has no official postgame trophy despite being played for the 129th time. An unofficial award—the Platypus Trophy—exists and has circulated between Corvallis and Eugene for 66 years. The trophy resembles a hybrid of the two schools' mascots and has alternately surfaced and disappeared over decades. The Platypus Trophy is kept and managed by the University of Oregon Alumni Association at times and has accrued a folklore-like backstory tied to the 44-mile distance between the campuses. The trophy remains unofficial in status but tangible and culturally significant to both programs.

Read at ESPN.com