The 66th edition of the famed Cortaca Jug football game will cap stellar regular seasons for both teams, but Ithaca College’s playoff future will remain uncertain at kickoff time at Butterfield Stadium.
The Bombers will bring a 7-2 overall record into the noon home game Nov. 15 against the Red Dragons and will need to win and also for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to beat Union the same day, which would set up a three-way tie in the Liberty League. Ithaca would then clinch the conference title and secure an NCAA Division III playoff berth.
Cortland (9-0) is ranked 20th in the D3football.com national rankings and beat Ithaca 28-17 in last year’s Cortaca Jug game, trimming IC’s Cortaca Jug lead in the series to 38-27. The teams have faced each other 83 times since 1930 and IC owns the all-time series 43-36-1.
How to get tickets and watch for the 2025 Cortaca Jug game
Tickets for the game are sold out and officials announced previously there would not be walk-up tickets available. Butterfield Stadium’s capacity is about 5,000, but it has held more for Cortaca Jug games.
Fans can watch the game using a computer or mobile device by visiting ICTV. Locally, 91.7 FM will provide live coverage by WICB, and it can be streamed at WICB.org.
Play-by-play will be available on the IC Live Stats page.
Events surrounding the Cortaca Jug
Ithaca College students not at the game can watch from Clark and Klingenstein Lounge.
Alumni viewing parties will also be held throughout the country, and can be found at the Cortaca Central website. RSPV details can be found on the site.
The New York gatherings include:
- Peterson’s Tavern, 11 Main St., Binghamton
- Tees and Taps, 1425 Hertel Ave., Buffalo
- Billy Joe’s Ribworks, 26 Front St., Newburgh
- Longshots Sports Bar & Grill, 2255 N. Triphammer Road, Ithaca
- Common Country, 344 3rd Ave., New York, NY
- Genesee Brew House, 25 Cataract St., Rochester
What’s next for Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland
While Ithaca College’s playoff future rests on the outcome of its game against the Red Dragons as well as the RPI-Union matchup, Cortland has claimed its fifth consecutive Empire 8 title and will play next in the 40-team playoffs, which will begin Nov. 22, with 24 teams earning first-round byes.
The Red Dragons have won 33 straight league games and also claimed the Division III national championship in 2023.
What’s next for the Cortaca Jug series
On Nov. 12, the schools announced the biggest rivalry in Division III football would return for the second time to Yankee Stadium on Nov. 14, 2026.
“The biggest little game in the nation” has drawn the two largest crowds in NCAA Division III history, with attendance topping 40,000 when the matchup last took place in Yankee Stadium in 2022.
The rivalry also made headlines in 2019, when the teams met at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, setting a Division III single-game attendance record of 45,161 fans.
Tickets for Cortaca 2026 at Yankee Stadium will go on sale exclusively through Ticketmaster on Nov. 20, and will be available on the Ithaca College Athletics website.
Ticket prices will range from $27.50 to $89, plus applicable fees.
History, legacy of the Ithaca-Cortland rivalry
The 2023 Cortaca Jug game brought the contest back to Ithaca’s South Hill for the first time since 2017.
Every year, the score of the rivalry game is added to the literal Cortaca Jug.
According to SUNY Cortland, “a second jug was created in 1985 when the first one ran out of room for scores, and a third jug, created by Giotto Zampogna ’15, made its debut for the 2016 game.”
Each year, football fans look forward to the latest bout in the 94-year rivalry series, as 31 of the Jug games have been decided by a touchdown or less.
It feels like anyone’s game, but it hasn’t always been that way. Both colleges have dominated stretches of the series. Between 1969 and 1995, Ithaca didn’t lose a Cortaca Jug game at home. SUNY Cortland won seven straight games from 2010 to 2016, including a dramatic 23-20 last-second victory in 2014.
