The Toledo Cup was a trophy presented in the United States from 1934 to 1936 to the college football team recognized as national champions by a group of 250 sports editors from newspapers across the country.[1]

Toledo Cup
SportCollege football
Awarded forNational Championship
Sponsored byToledo Scale Company
CountryUnited States
History
First award1934
Editions3
Final award1936
First winner Minnesota
Most winsMinnesota (3)
Most recentMinnesota

The poll's rules stated that the first team to win the traveling trophy three times would retain permanent possession of the cup.[2] The Minnesota Golden Gophers were promptly voted No. 1 for 1934, 1935, and 1936 and claimed the trophy.[3][2][4] The Toledo Cup is currently displayed in the lobby of the Gibson-Nagurski Athletic Center at the University of Minnesota.[3][2][4]

Winners

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Season Team Head Coach Record
1934 Minnesota[3][1] Bernie Bierman 8–0
1935 Minnesota[3][5] Bernie Bierman 8–0
1936 Minnesota[3][6] Bernie Bierman 7–1

References

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  1. ^ a b "Minnesota Wins Toledo Cup For U. S. Football Supremacy". Big Spring Daily Herald. Big Spring, Texas. February 6, 1935. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Briggs, David (January 8, 2023). "What if one of the greatest trophies in sports was named after Toledo? In college football, it once was". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Toledo Cup — National Collegiate Football Championship (Trophy). Gibson-Nagurski Athletic Center, University of Minnesota. January 6, 2023. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023. 1934, 1935, 1936 — University of Minnesota
  4. ^ a b Emerson, Seth (August 20, 2023). "College football's last 3-peat: The Minnesota national title history Georgia is chasing". The Athletic. Minneapolis. Retrieved September 14, 2023. The years of the national titles are posted inside the stadium, and there are banners in the team's facility. Otherwise, there are scant reminders. Maybe it's the midwestern reserve, not wanting to brag. Maybe it's just not dwelling on the past. Which may be why the silver, three-foot tall trophy has gone largely unnoticed.
  5. ^ Putnam, Herbert S. (December 23, 1935). "Athletic H-A-S-H". Fremont Tribune. Fremont, Nebraska. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "Gophers Take Toledo Trophy". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyoming. December 31, 1936. Retrieved September 8, 2022. Minnesita [sic] wins the Toledo cup for the third successive year, thereby gaining permanent possession of the first symbol of the nation's mythical football championship, it was announced today in New York by Westbrook Pegler, executive secretary of the Toledo Cup committee.