First meeting | October 24, 1931 Western Kentucky, 7–0 |
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Latest meeting | September 20, 2008 Western Kentucky, 50–9 |
Next meeting | TBD |
Trophy | Red Belt |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 67 |
All-time series | Western Kentucky leads, 36–24–7 |
Largest victory | Western Kentucky 50, Murray State 0 (1963) |
Longest win streak | Western Kentucky, 5 (1969–1973) |
Current win streak | Western Kentucky, 4 (1999–present) |
The Battle for the Red Belt is an American college football rivalry between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team of Western Kentucky University and the Murray State Racers football team of Murray State University. The rivalry began as an in-conference rivalry within the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), but both schools have since departed for other conferences. The Hilltoppers were the first to move, transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision and playing as an independent in the 2008 season before moving football to the Sun Belt Conference in 2009,[a] followed by a move to Conference USA in 2014. The Racers, which remain in the Football Championship Subdivision to this day, played their final OVC season in 2022, and joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. The rivalry has continued as a trophy game, although it is no longer played on an annual basis.
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