College Football Rivalry Week Primer

If you want to understand why college football is so wildly popular in the United States, one window into this culturally treasured aspect of American life is this upcoming week. Rivalry games are played throughout the sport at this time of year. A few were played this past weekend, but most of them are coming up next.

Toss aside, for a moment, the tactics and strategies various teams and coaching staffs will use. Also cast aside the playoff or championship stakes attached to these games. More than the prizes on the line, the most important reason to win these games is for bragging rights. That’s what great rivalries are all about.

One team could be losing games left and right, but if it beats the hated rival at the end of the season, the year doesn’t feel like a total failure or a waste of time.

One team could be winning a bunch of games. It might even win its conference championship. Yet, losing a rivalry game as a heavy favorite carries a sting and a scar which never go away. Such is the world of rivalry games.

Want to gain a more intimate knowledge of college football? Learn about some rivalries. 

GO TO STATS INSIDER COLLEGE FOOTBALL HUB

Key point: I am calling these rivalries to your attention more than anything else. Feel free to research on your own but this is one way of putting some information and context on your radar screen, so that you’re aware of these rivalries and what they mean to the local fan bases and populations:

Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, and Army-Navy are the three most prominent rivalry games in the United States. 

OSU-UM and Bama-Auburn are regularly important for conference/division/national championships. These rivalries are regularly given national television treatment. 

Army-Navy is one of the most special rivalries in American sports. It is the last game of every college football regular season. This year’s edition won’t occur until December 14. Ohio State-Michigan and Auburn-Alabama will be played this Saturday, Nov. 30.

Ohio State-Michigan’s most famous period as a game was 1969 through to 1978. In these 10 years, Ohio State was coached by the iconic Woody Hayes, Michigan by the similarly iconic Bo Schembechler. This period is referred to as the Ten-Year War.

Alabama-Auburn is called the “Iron Bowl.” If you are an outsider in the state of Alabama, and you are new to a community, you will be asked at some point, by someone, somewhere, “Are you an Auburn or Alabama man (woman)?” This is serious business. Few rivalries consume a state more than the Iron Bowl consumes the state of Alabama.

Friday, Washington State plays Washington in the game known as the “Apple Cup.” Washington is one of the foremost exporters of apples among the 50 American states.

Clemson plays South Carolina, the state of South Carolina’s big rivalry. Georgia plays Georgia Tech. Southern rivalries are a little nastier than most other rivalries. College football in the Deep South does mean more than in most other regions, most of the time.

Fun trophies are on the line in many of these rivalry games, some of which have already been played this season:

Wisconsin plays Minnesota for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. This past weekend, California (Berkeley) played Stanford for The Axe. 

Michigan and Michigan State played earlier in November for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

Michigan State played Penn State earlier this season for the Land Grant Trophy.

Indiana versus Purdue is the state of Indiana’s big college football rivalry. The two teams play for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Iowa-Minnesota is the “Floyd of Rosedale” game, played for a trophy of a pig.

Minnesota and Michigan don’t play every year, but when they do play, they play for the Little Brown Jug.

Arkansas and LSU played this past weekend for “The Boot.”

Colorado State and Wyoming just played this past weekend for “The Bronze Boot.”

USC and UCLA – which used to be a significant national rivalry through the early 1990s but has receded in significance because of UCLA’s prolonged woes as a football school – play for the Victory Bell. Duke and North Carolina play for their own version of the Victory Bell.

Other classic rivalries which have already been played: Harvard and Yale played this past weekend in the most famous Ivy League rivalry of them all. (Yale came back from a 36-19 deficit to win 50-43 in overtime, claiming a share of the Ivy title for 2019.)

Lafayette and Lehigh is not a Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) rivalry, but it is the most-played rivalry in the United States: 155 times, dating back to 1884. The teams would play multiple times in some seasons in the late 19^th and very early 20^th centuries.

Texas-Oklahoma is the Red River Rivalry, played on the second Saturday of October at a neutral site in Dallas, the home of the Texas State Fair.

Florida-Georgia is the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, played on the last Saturday of October or the first Saturday of November every year at a neutral site in Jacksonville. Texas-Oklahoma and Florida-Georgia join Army-Navy as the three prominent neutral-site rivalries in the United States.

Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, played this upcoming weekend, is simply known to Oklahomans as “Bedlam.”

Arizona-Arizona State is the Territorial Cup.

Mississippi State-Ole Miss is the Egg Bowl.

Oregon-Oregon State is the Civil War.

These are not ALL the rivalry games played in the United States but they do offer you a glimpse of the color, passion and tradition which make these games so cherished for the fans and communities involved.

Did you enjoy this article? Leave a comment below, or join the conversation on the Stats Insider Twitter or Facebook page.