The Paint Bucket Bowl is the name given to the Arkansas State–Memphis football rivalry.[1] It is a college football rivalry between the Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Memphis Tigers.
The name of the rivalry was created when officials from the two schools decided to create a trophy for the winner of the game out of some buckets of paint and some paint brushes. The losing school also designed a particular area on its campus that the winner could smear with paint, in an attempt to eliminate the defacing of each campus and the “kidnapping” of opposing football players during game week. The tradition evolved into the winning school being given a trophy from the other—a paint bucket decorated in the colors of the two schools and inscribed with the game score.[2][3] The two teams have met 62 times on the football field, with Memphis currently holding a 33–23–5 edge in the all-time series. The last meeting between the schools was in 2023. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that a further four-year extension of the series will begin in 2026.[4]
