Since 1968, what two college football teams play every year for The Bronze Boot Trophy?

Colorado State and Wyoming have been playing the Border War since 1899. But since 1968, the game between the two arch-rivals, located 39 miles apart, has been spiced with the winner taking home The Bronze Boot.

The brainchild came about when the ROTC attachments from the two schools agreed to put up a bronzed boot that was worn in the Vietnam War by Capt. Dan Romero, an Army ROTC instructor at Colorado State from 1967-1969. The traveling trophy was a way both schools agreed would honor our nation's military.

It’s a symbol of service, of sacrifice, of lives lost defending our country’s freedom.

Romero, who served as a military adviser to the South Korean army from May 1966 to May 1967, offered up his leather “jump boot” upon returning home and being assigned to the ROTC program at CSU as an assistant professor of military science. The idea for the trophy to be shared by the ROTC programs at CSU and Wyoming, came from Cadet Maj. Vic Fernandez, a student in the CSU program.

There is another tradition that has been born out through this game. The ROTC attachment from the visiting school will run the ball in a shuttle relay to the state border, hand it off to the home team's ROTC unit, which will repeat the shuttle all the way to the stadium. This is done on the morning of the game. The last ROTC runner will carry the ball into the stadium and hand it to the official just before kickoff.

CSU holds a 58-45-5 advantage in the series. Wyoming leads 25-24 since 1968.