C6H0
Art is in the eye of the beholder, and for Centre graduates, the C6H0 inscription on Centre College’s campus is a masterpiece.
Work Overview
The message was first painted in celebration by Centre students after the underdog Praying Colonels stunned mighty Harvard University in a football game in 1921. The score: Centre 6 - Harvard 0.
In a defining moment of college football lore, the Centre College Praying Colonels pulled off one of the greatest upsets in American sport by defeating the powerhouse Harvard Crimson, 6-0, at Harvard Stadium on October 29, 1921. Both teams entered undefeated, but Centre’s improbable victory defied expectations — famously dubbed “C6H0” in a chemistry-style notation and in a nod to a professor’s joke about Harvard being “poisoned”— the win instantly catapulted the small Kentucky school onto the national stage. The triumph resonated far beyond football: it was celebrated with parades, statewide adulation, and dramatic media praise, symbolizing the triumph of grit, faith, and small-college spirit over established tradition. In time, the Associated Press would name it the “upset of the half-century,” and it remains a storied example of underdog resilience in American athletics.
The victory has been called "one of the greatest upsets in sports history." From that moment, C6H0 was born.