The Confusion Bowl is a nickname given to

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

games played between the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference ...

(formerly known as the Miami Redskins) of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

and the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. The schools, who have met four times, share the name "", leading the midwestern school to be referred to as "Miami of Ohio" and the Florida school to be regularly indicated in publications and polls as "Miami (FL)".

History

Both universities have prestigious histories in college football, with Miami of Ohio's Redskins/RedHawks having produced some of the most successful football coaches of all time, earning it the nickname of the

Cradle of Coaches The Cradle of Coaches is a nickname given to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for its history of producing successful sports coaches, especially in football. Bob Kurz, a former Miami sports communications worker, popularized the term in a 1983 bo ...

, and the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

of Miami, Florida having won five national championships. Although the two institutions share names, they have different namesakes. Miami University derives its name from its location in the

Miami Valley The Miami Valley is the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, USA, and includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well. Geographically, it includes Dayton, Springfield, Middletown, Hamilton, and other c ...

area of Ohio, which was historically the homeland of the indigenous

Miami people The Miami ( Miami–Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking the Miami–Illinois language, one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is no ...

. The University of Miami gets its name from the city of

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, which traces its own name back to

Mayaimi The Mayaimi (also Maymi, Maimi) were Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi (now Lake Okeechobee) in the Belle Glade culture, Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era u ...

, the historic name of

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

and the indigenous people that settled around it. The two Native American tribes have no relation to one another, and the similarity between their names is coincidental. Concerns over confusion between the two universities predates the football games and began with the founding of the Florida institution in the 1920s.

Alfred H. Upham Upham Hall is an academic building on the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio, United States. It is located in the center of campus in the academic quad near the university’s seal. Miami University was founded in 1809 and the first class gr ...

, president of Miami University from 1928 to 1945, published a protest in the Ohio university's bulletin in February 1927. Upham wrote:

Presumably names of collegiate institutions are not copyrighted and these good citizens of Florida have the legal right to adopt such a name as they choose. But they certainly have not much moral right to usurp the name of a university which has established itself by more than a century of sound scholarship and effective educational service. . . . There are so many perfectly good names for a new and aspiring university. What justification or justice is there in appropriating one that has made its place in the academic world through more than a century of achievement?

The first football game between the schools was held in 1945 at Miami, Florida, and was dubbed the "Confusion Bowl" by ''

The Atlanta Journal ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

''. The name gained traction as other newspapers also began calling the game the "Confusion Bowl", including the ''Logan Daily News'' and ''

The Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

''. Miami (FL) won the 1945 game, 27–13, snapping Miami of Ohio's five-game winning streak. When the Miami football teams played again in 1946, the name "Confusion Bowl" continued to be used, with the ''Daily News'' having a section of their newspaper titled "Miami, O., 'Confusion Bowl' Loser" after Miami of Ohio again lost to the Miami Hurricanes, 20–17, in Florida. The programs met again in 1987, and the Confusion Bowl monicker stuck, with

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

's newswire joking "The lock of the week is that Miami is going to lose on Saturday". The

won again, this time by a convincing 54–3 score, and went on to win the 1987 national championship. The teams met again in the 2023 season opener. As a solution to the confusion, Miami of Ohio's veteran broadcaster Steve Baker said he would avoid references to "Miami" and instead refer to the RedHawks and Hurricanes.

Game results

''Source:''

References

{{Miami RedHawks football navbox Miami RedHawks football Miami Hurricanes football