The “Challenge Cup” National College Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition is the most important national college student science and technology academic competition in China. It is an important form of guiding and motivating college students to participate in science and technology innovation education, and constitutes an important indicator of the effectiveness of the scientific and technological innovation education of a university. Utilizing digital intelligence technologies to analyze the first prize-winning projects from the past 17 “Challenge Cup” competitions spanning over 30 years, this study identifies the spatial distribution of winning universities and regions, as well as the thematic evolution of the awarded entries, thus depicting the dynamic development map of the “Challenge Cup” competition. The findings reveal that high-level institutions are the primary awardees, with a noticeable increase in awards for general universities in recent years, indicating a significant radiative effect; the regional disparities in award distribution are notable, extending from the eastern and northern coastal areas to the southwestern and southern coastal regions; regional differences in the number of competition awards are more pronounced, spreading from the east and north coasts to the south-west and south coasts; the themes of winning projects predominantly center on “Agriculture, Rural Areas, and Farmers” and “Smart Technology,” showing consistency and stability. The “Challenge Cup” competition has increasingly become a vital platform for fostering college students' engagement in scientific and technological innovation and cultivating talents in this field.