10/14/2025
A rivalry that forged football’s “biggest little game in the nation” is back when the 2025 Cortaca Jug game takes place Saturday, Nov. 15 — and the SUNY Cortland campus community will have early access to tickets starting Sunday, Oct. 26.
The three-day ticket sale takes place in Corey Union, Room 406, and is open to SUNY Cortland students, faculty, staff and Cortland Auxiliary Services employees.
During the initial sale, campus community members will be able to purchase one ticket per person, $15 per ticket, with cash payment only. A SUNY Cortland ID is required
All seating is general admission for the game, which kicks off at noon at Ithaca College’s Butterfield Stadium. Students must present both their ticket and Cortland ID for entrance to the stadium.
Ticket sale times are:
- Sunday, Oct. 26: 1-4 p.m.
- Monday, Oct. 27: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 28: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lost or stolen tickets cannot be replaced. Fans are reminded to keep their tickets in a safe place.
A limited number of bus tickets to and from Ithaca College also can be purchased by students for $10, cash payment only. Bus tickets are offered one per student, with a SUNY Cortland ID required. Buses leave Corey Union at 11 a.m. and depart from Ithaca immediately after the game.
If tickets remain after the initial campus community sale, general community tickets go on sale on Wednesday, Oct. 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 406. Those tickets are limited to four per person, $15 per ticket, cash payment only.
The annual showdown between the Red Dragons and Bombers is considered one of the greatest rivalries in Division III athletics due to the storied histories of both programs, the close distance between the two campuses and many thrilling finishes.
In 1959, friends and team captains Tom Decker of Cortland and Dick Carmean of Ithaca originated the Cortaca Jug as the prize for the winner of the game between the schools located about 20 miles apart on Route 13. That original jug was purchased at a yard sale.
Each year, the game’s result is printed on the Jug, with three now in existence. In 1991, Sports Illustrated referred to the game as “the biggest little game in the nation.”
Cortland and Ithaca are playing for the Cortaca Jug for the 66th time in 2025. The schools actually started playing in 1930 and have met every year since 1948, other than in 2020 when the season was canceled.
Ithaca leads the overall series 43-36-3 and the Jug series 38-27, but Cortland has claimed back-to-back Cortaca Jug victories.
The rivalry accounts for the only Division III football games to ever surpass 40,000 fans, setting an attendance record of 45,161 when in 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. In 2022, the game was hosted at historic Yankee Stadium, welcoming 40,232 fans