High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Battle for the Bell is an an American college football rivalry game played by the Marshall Thundering Herd football team of Marshall University and the Ohio Bobcats football team of Ohio University. It is a regional rivalry, with the universities` campuses located about 80 miles (130 km) from each other, with a bell awarded as the trophy for the winner of the game. With Marshall`s move from the Mid-American Conference to Conference USA in 2005, this rivalry game has been on hiatus. The series unexpectedly resumed in 2009 when the Herd and Bobcats faced off in the 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which Marshall won 21–17. A six-year contract between the schools began in 2010, with Ohio taking the 2011 contest 44–7. This most recent win by Ohio snapped a six-game winning streak by Marshall. Ohio leads the all-time series over Marshall; however, the Thundering Herd have dominated the rivalry`s recent history, winning ten of the last twelve meetings.