Occidental–Whittier_football_rivalry
Occidental–Whittier football rivalry
College football rivalry
The Occidental–Whittier football rivalry was a college football rivalry between the Occidental College Tigers and the Whittier College Poets, both members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The rivalry has been played 108 times, renewed annually since 1907, except for interruptions during the World Wars and in 2017. By 1935, the Los Angeles Times was already referring to the Tigers and Poets as "old rivals".[1] The schools met twice in the years of 1913, 1984, and 1989, the latter two due to the SCIAC's doubling up of one opponent per season in the 1980s. The game is often referred to as the Shoes Game, as the winner maintains possession of Myron Claxton's bronzed shoes as a trophy. Over its more than 100-year history, the rivalry has been relatively even, with Oxy maintaining a 57–52–2 edge. Whittier dominated the rivalry from the 1950s through the 1970s,[2] but Oxy has won 27 of the last 35 games since 1983. Following the abandonment of Occidental's 2017 football season, no game was played in 2017, but the series resumed in 2018. The series is on hiatus following Occidental's discontinuation of its football program amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and Whittier's discontinuation of football following the 2022 season.[3]