This story will explore the five of the best rivalries in College Football. What are their records against each other? What made them big rivals?
1. The Game- Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
The teams first met in 1897, and a rivalry started between them. If you go back about 50 years, there was a war between Michigan and Ohio called the Toledo War, which started a big rivalry. Michigan has the longest win streak between the two being 9, and Ohio State has 8. The first 20 games were all Michigan being 15-2-3 against the Buckeyes. Ohio State was dominant from 2002-2019 where they won 15 out of the 17 games. Michigan takes this rivalry winning 62 while Ohio State has won 52 and tied 6 times. In their last four matchups, Michigan has won all of them. This year Michigan won 13-10 despite being the underdog.
2. Iron Bowl- Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn Tigers
Going back to 1893 when they first met, Auburn beat Alabama 32-22 in a very heated matchup. The rivalry was so bad they stopped them from playing from 1907 when they tied to 1948 which is insane because making two teams split for 41 years, must’ve been a bad game. The real reason for the 41 years away from each other was because of World War II that was happening at the time, and the Great Depression. They also disagreed about where to play because Auburn wanted a game in the North and Alabama wanted to keep it South. Their longest win streaks against each other were Alabama with a 9-game win streak and Auburn with 6. Alabama has won 50 while Auburn has won 37 and they have tied just 1. In their last 10 matchups, the Crimson Tide has won 7 of the 10. This year they played again and Alabama took it winning 28-14.
3. America’s Game- Army vs. Navy
It’s pretty obvious why these two are such rivalries because it’s pretty much to see which branch of the military is superior. They call this game the America’s Game. In the first 22 games, the Army led with 11 wins while the Navy had 10 and the teams tied 1. The longest win streak is by the Navy with 14 and the Army has a win streak of 10. The Navy leads this series with 62 wins. The Army is close behind at 54, they have tied 7. In the last 10 matchups, they are tied at 5 wins and losses for both teams. Last year they played and the Army won 17-11 The two teams have not yet played this year but the odds are for the Army to win.
4. Red River Rivalry- Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns
The rivalry started in 1900 when they first played each other where it earned the name The Red River Shootout. It then got changed to the Red River Rivalry because of “gun violence” in the word shootout. It got its name because the river between Texas and Oklahoma is the Red River. They became such big rivals because it was a fight for the “Team of the South.” Through the first 20 games of this heated rivalry, it was Oklahoma winning 12, tying 1, and losing 7. Texas has a bigger win streak being 8 but Oklahoma is right there at 6. Texas wins this series 64. Oklahoma has won 51, and the teams have tied a total of 5 times. In the last 10 matchups, Oklahoma has owned Texas winning 7 of the 10 games. This year Texas blew out Oklahoma winning 34-3.
5. The Jewell Shillelagh- Usc Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
“The Wives Story” This rivalry started when the USC head coach tried to date the wife of the Notre Dame coach’s wife. In 1948, when this started, USC was looking for its first national championship win, so Notre Dame called. Notre Dame got destroyed, and they’ve been on each other’s schedules since then. Notre Dame’s first 20 against USC was good; they won 12 out of those 20, tying 2 and only losing 6. USC was still getting beaten by them for 22 years. Notre Dame has the longest win streak with it being 11 and USC being 8. Notre Dame leads this series winning 48. USC has won 37 and the teams have tied 5 times. Notre Dame won four in a row from 2017-2021 but was stopped by USC in 2022. In the last two matchups, it’s been USC. This year Notre Dame won in a very good game 49-35.
