Have you ever heard of the Border Battle? Maybe you've seen "#BorderBattle" used in tweets any time Minnesota and Wisconsin meet on any kind of surface or in the water.
"Border Battle" isn't just a catchy phrase, though. It's an official contest for border supremacy between the two rival athletic departments. The concept was hatched 12 years ago and now includes 11 sports and 29 teams.

Our Joe Christensen wrote: To reach a fifth consecutive NCAA title game, the Gophers must overcome a major obstacle in Friday's semifinals: Wisconsin's record-setting goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens.The Border Battle will extend to the women's Frozen Four Friday night when the Gophers and Badgers' face off for a berth in the national championship game. Wisconsin leads the women's hockey season series 3-2.
Christensen also chronicled Gophers women's hockey coach Brad Frost's rise to national dominance.
Despite Wisconsin's edge in women's hockey, the Gophers lead the race for the 2015-2016 Border Battle crown by a score of 410-230.
Women's volleyball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's cross country, women's tennis and women's basketball each have accounted for 40 points of the total. Gophers men's hockey earned 30. The spring sports are worth 240 more points.
The Gophers have won six of the last seven Border Battles for a 7-4 series lead.
Here is how the scoring process works: