What's Up With All The Memes Pitting Bart Against Onions? The NCAA Football Trend Explained

If you've been seeing a sudden influx of Bart profile pictures in certain college football-associated corners of the internet, you may have stumbled onto a brewing rivalry between Barts and Onions.

What began as a lighthearted way for people to display their B12 team affiliations turned into a trend where people share images of Bart fighting against humanoid onion creatures.

Here's how one X (former Twitter) user's goal to turn the world over to the "Bart" side resulted in Barstool's The Yak giving the Bart Cult a shoutout.

Where Did The Bart vs. Onion Rivalry Originate?

On November 15th, X user @SteadyE69 made a series of posts encouraging his followers to "join the movement" by changing their profile picture to one of Bart Simpson with an NCAA football logo edited onto his hat. The post is the earliest known mention of the "Bart Cult," with many X users crediting @SteadyE69 for starting the trend.

On the same day, X user @CycloneRetroSN posted a photo of the Iowa State football logo slapped onto an Onion, in reference to a match between the @SteadyE69's Texas Longhorns and the Iowa State Cyclones.

How Did The Bart vs. Onion Rivalry Spread?

Various X users changed their profile picture to one of Bart wearing a hat featuring a football team of their choice on November 15th, 2023, with @SteadyE69 noting the influx of engagement from Bart profile picture users.

X user @_the_kyle posted a meme about the trend on November 15th, soon followed by the gimmick page "No Context College Football" posting a Bart vs. Onion meme as well.

How Did The Bart vs. Onion Rivarly Make It To Barstool's The Yak?

The Barstool's Yak discussed the Bart vs. Onion trend on November 16th after a hoard of Bart and Onion loyalists flocked to the replies of their tweets on November 15th and 16th.

BANNNNGGGGG WE HERE W BART CAT! @BarstoolYak #BartUp pic.twitter.com/R0myUVsLF8

— Reagan Huggins (@ReaganHuggins12) November 16, 2023

For the full history of Bart vs. Onion, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.