The Badgers (4-3 Big Ten, 8-3 overall) and Gophers (0-7, 1-10) battle once a year for the right to Paul Bunyan's Axe.
They battle year round on the recruiting trails, however, for new players that will keep the longest running rivalry going strong.
Currently, six UW football players were swayed to leave The Land of 10,000 Lakes"" and join a Badger team that has consistently fared better than the rival school across the Mississippi River.
Badger senior center Marcus Coleman said he was never a big fan of the Gophers because he did not move to Minnesota until seventh grade. That, however, did not hamper Minnesota from aggressively pursuing him.
""They were the first one to give me an offer,"" Coleman said. ""They recruited me pretty hard, but I didn't really show a lot of interest.""
""I came here on my visit, and I realized I loved what I saw and I just felt like it was a good fit, obviously.""
Clearly it was a great choice for Coleman, as he recently became part of the winningest senior class in UW history and a member of the Rimington Award watch list for the nations best center. Coleman also believes it is becoming a trend for Minnesota players to jump ship and join its state school's bitter rival.
""We got some of the best players out of Minnesota last year that ended up coming here - Blake [Sorensen] and [David] Gilreath,"" Coleman said. ""So I think they recruit very hard against each other, and I think a lot of those guys do end up coming here.""
Gilreath, a freshman wide receiver, has made an immediate impact for the Badgers special team unit that struggled mightily last year in the return game.
Coming out of high school, Gilreath was ranked as the No. 6 best player in Minnesota by Rivals.com.
Nevertheless, Badger fans came somewhat close to seeing Gilreath for the first time dressed in maroon and gold when UW traveled to the Metrodome.
""I was committed to [Minnesota] for a while,"" Gilreath said. ""As the recruiting process went on I kind of felt like... the big turning point was when I came to a game here, the crowd, the atmosphere was like 'wow,' and that is kind of how it went.""
One major positive for a team that wants to recruit in Minnesota is that Minneapolis and St. Paul comprise a major metropolitan area, allowing many teams to scout and search for talent among many players.
""It's not like any other school in the Big Ten with that much population base and that many players,"" UW head coach Bret Bielema said. ""So every school in this conference goes into Minneapolis and recruits, and it's not anything against Minnesota, it's just based on the population.""
For a number of Badger players hailing from Minnesota, this Saturday means the battle for the axe will serve as a second homecoming.
When asked if this game has any extra meaning for him, Coleman responded, ""Yeah it does, I mean, I got a couple of guys I know on the team, a guy I actually played with, so yeah it does mean a lot to be able to go in there and keep the axe.""
