They call it the “Egg Bowl” because of the Golden Egg trophy awarded to the winner of the Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State football game. The trophy is an old-style, brass football whose short, rounded shape looks more like a giant egg, so the game became known as the Battle for the Golden Egg and, later, simply the Egg Bowl.

Trophy and name origin

In 1927, the schools introduced the Golden Egg trophy after a postgame fight the previous year, hoping a formal award would calm tensions between fans. The ball design matched the more ovoid 1920s footballs, which to modern eyes resemble an egg, leading people to nickname it the “Golden Egg.”

How “Egg Bowl” caught on

For decades the rivalry was officially called the Battle for the Golden Egg. In the late 1970s, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper began branding the game as the “Egg Bowl” in headlines, and the shorter, catchy name stuck and became the widely used title for the rivalry.