Wisconsin Shattered The Duke’s Mayo Bowl Trophy While Dancing In The Locker Room

Wednesday afternoon saw Wisconsin dominate Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl — aka, the artist formerly known as the Belk Bowl — and for much of the fourth quarter the only drama was whether the giant Duke’s Mayo branded jug on the sideline for the winning team to dump on their coach was full of mayo or not.

Sadly — or, in the case of Paul Chryst, happily — it was not and was instead full of white Gatorade, leaving the internet upset that Chryst wasn’t doused in condiment.

Maybe the karmic justice for not gifting us the GIF that would live forever that would’ve been a giant tub of mayo being dumped over the head of Wisconsin’s coach was that the Mayo Bowl trophy was not to survive the afternoon. During the locker room celebration, photos emerged of the carnage that was the crystal football that once adorned the top of the trophy, shattered into thousands of pieces on the floor.

The culprit, we would eventually learn, was Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz, whose dance with the trophy caused it to take its fateful tumble to the ground, with the noise of it shattering acting as the proverbial record scratch that briefly stopped the party.

It’s not the first time a trophy has met its demise, as there have been instances of broken crystal trophies many times over the decades in college sports. A tub of mayo wouldn’t have broken, so maybe they’ve learned their lesson and will pick a sturdier, albeit less shelf stable, option for the winners to lift next year, as Mertz fashioned with some tape after breaking it.