Fordham University, where I was an undergrad, is not a big sports school. As a result, I was never initiated into the ritualistic world of tailgating and fight songs, homecoming traditions and bowl game aspirations. And although college sports still, to some extent, remain alien to me, they’re becoming more and more difficult to ignore. College football in particular continues to be a huge part of the ever-expanding sports media sphere, with Division I athletics now a multi-billion-dollar industry and football generating the vast majority of revenues. So even I, a college sports layperson, have become familiar with some of the narratives surrounding college football, like powerhouse legacies (the Alabama Crimson Tide), exorbitantly-paid head coaches, controversial playoff snubs, developments related to player compensation, conference realignment, and, of course, rivalries. Michigan vs. Ohio State, Army vs. Navy, UCLA vs. USC: these longstanding rivalries make up the fabric of college football. Check out a list of the biggest college football rivalries below.
Biggest College Football Rivalries
1) Michigan-Ohio State
Kicking off the list of the biggest college football rivalries is one of the biggest rivalries not just in college football, but in American sports at large. The Wolverines and Buckeyes first met on the gridiron in 1897, and the annual contest between the two Big Ten powerhouses, also known as The Game, went on uninterrupted from 1918 until COVID derailed the meeting in 2020. That’s a total of 121 matchups. In terms of the overall numbers, Michigan has the edge: the Wolverines have bested the Buckeyes 62 times; the Buckeyes have prevailed over the Wolverines 53 times; they’ve tied 6 times. The most recent meeting was Ohio State’s 27-9 win at Michigan Stadium in November 2025, ending a four-game Michigan win streak.
So why is it such a heated rivalry? Let’s start with the obvious. Both Michigan and Ohio State are amongst the best college football programs in the sport’s history. Good rivalries aren’t one-sided, uneven matchups; it wouldn’t be much of a rivalry if one side always won. Then there’s the fact that both teams are in the Big Ten. Rivalries always seem to take on more significance when they’re intra-division or conference; here, familiarity breeds contempt. Although the Big Ten removed its divisional format in 2024, the conference designated Michigan-Ohio State as one of the rivalry games guaranteed to continue under its Flex Protect Model.
And speaking of familiarity breeding contempt, it’s also worth mentioning that Michigan and Ohio State share a border. In fact, the two states went to war over their shared border in 1835. The border dispute, known formally as the Toledo War, Michigan-Ohio War, or Ohio-Michigan War (depending on where you ask, I guess) didn’t result in any casualties. But it is conceivable that when the two teams met for the first time in 1897, there might still have been Ohioans or Michiganders alive who remembered the conflict. So there you have it: the roots of the rivalry can be traced back to a real-deal armed conflict. No wonder Michigan-Ohio State is at the top of the list of the biggest college football rivalries.
2) Alabama-Auburn
As deep-seated and bitter as the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is, I don’t think it would’ve been too controversial to place Alabama-Auburn at the top of the list of the biggest college football rivalries. Just like Michigan-Ohio State, the Iron Bowl rivalry, that’s the moniker for the annual meeting between the Crimson Tide and the Tigers, has its roots in a political spat. To make a long story short, both Tuscaloosa and Auburn wanted to be the site of a new land-grant college under the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862. The city of Auburn won out in 1872.
On to slightly more relevant considerations. Alabama and Auburn held their first showdown in Birmingham in February 1893. Because Birmingham in the early 20th century was a major industrial city and leading producer of iron, coal, and steel, the annual meeting between Alabama and Auburn became known as the Iron Bowl.
Both Alabama and Auburn compete in the SEC. And even though Alabama has the clear edge in terms of overall dominance, the rivalry isn’t as one-sided as you might think. The Crimson Tide currently lead the overall series against the Tigers with a head-to-head record of 52-37-1 after Alabama’s 27-20 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November 2025, the Tide’s sixth consecutive Iron Bowl victory.
3) Army-Navy
Yes, Army-Navy has landed on the list of the biggest college football rivalries. To some, counting the rivalry amongst the biggest college football rivalries is obvious; to others, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Let me explain.
The Army-Navy rivalry deserves a spot in the pantheon of college football rivalries not because it’s consequential, high-stakes football. The last time Army won a national championship was 1946, and the last time Navy won a national championship was twenty years before that. Only a handful of times in the last 60 years have both teams come into the game with winning records. And nothing turns on the result for the broader college football season; the game is typically played in mid-December, after the conference championships have been decided.
In other words: the Army-Navy rivalry is all pomp and circumstance, founded entirely on tradition. And that’s what makes it one of the biggest college football rivalries. The annual matchup has been held uninterrupted since 1930. The sitting U.S. president is often in the stands. It’s a militaristic, patriotic spectacle, replete with flyovers and traditions like The Prisoner Exchange and The March On. The two teams also play for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the three-way service academy round-robin between Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Navy leads the rivalry with a head-to-head record of 64-55-7, including back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025 to give the Midshipmen consecutive Army-Navy victories for the first time since 2014-15. The Midshipmen also hold the longest streak in series history, having won 14 consecutive games from 2002 to 2015. The 127th Army-Navy Game is scheduled for December 2026 at MetLife Stadium.
4) Oklahoma-Texas
The Oklahoma-Texas rivalry dates back to 1900, before the Texans were the Longhorns and before Oklahoma was a state. Oklahoma and Texas are neighbors, and the annual meeting between the two teams is also referred to as the Red River Rivalry; the Red River forms part of the border between the two states.
The game is played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and happens at the same time as the Texas State Fair. The winner of the matchup receives the Golden Hat, a gold-plated cowboy hat mounted on a wooden base, which is kept by the prevailing team until the next year. After decades as conference foes in the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas now meet annually as SEC rivals, having both moved to the conference together in 2024.
Texas leads the series with a 65-51-5 record against Oklahoma after the Longhorns’ 23-6 win in October 2025.
5) USC-Notre Dame
While most of the other biggest college football rivalries are rooted in politics or geography, the USC-Notre Dame rivalry has its origins, according to some, in a conversation between the wives of Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne and USC athletic director Gywnn Wilson. As the story goes, USC sent Wilson and his wife to Nebraska, where Notre Dame was playing, in search of a national rival. The coaches and their spouses met, and after getting over some reluctance because of the travel involved, in 1926 the USC-Notre Dame matchup became an annual fixture.
Unlike the purely ceremonial Army-Navy rivalry, when USC and Notre Dame meet, there is typically something at stake. Often, the playoff hopes of one or both of the teams rests on the outcome. Plus, USC and Notre Dame are two of the most storied, decorated programs in college sports history.
Notre Dame has taken home the Jeweled Shillelagh, that’s the trophy they play for, more often than USC has. The Fighting Irish lead the series with a record of 51-37-5. After the 2025 game, however, the two schools failed to reach an agreement on future meetings, with USC’s move to the Big Ten and the demands of the conference’s nine-game schedule cited as factors. The series is on pause, with hopes of a restart no sooner than 2030.
6) Florida-Georgia
The annual Florida-Georgia game attracts huge crowds to Jacksonville, and because of the widespread tailgating and other festivities, the matchup has become known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (interesting side note: a punk music festival happens every year in Gainesville at the same time as the Florida-Georgia showdown; UF students and fans leave Gainesville deserted, and the punks take over).
The Florida-Georgia rivalry has been a proving ground for legends like Vince Dooley, Steve Spurrier, and Urban Meyer. Since the SEC split into two divisions in 1992, Florida and Georgia have combined for more than 25 SEC titles, with the annual meeting between the two teams often playing a decisive role. Georgia leads the rivalry with a record of 57-44-2 after winning 24-20 in 2025, and the Bulldogs have now taken seven of the last eight in the series. The 2026 edition will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta while EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville undergoes renovations.
7) USC-UCLA
The USC-UCLA rivalry has it all: the schools share a city, they’re both now members of the Big Ten Conference after leaving the Pac-12 together in 2024, and there’s typically something at stake. In the 1980s and 1990s, the winner of the Crosstown Cup would often go on to play in the Rose Bowl. As recently as 2022, the result of the game had implications for the College Football Playoff and Pac-12 Championship hopes of both sides.
The winner of the contest hoists the Victory Bell trophy, an actual bell from an old Southern Pacific locomotive. USC leads the series with a record of 52-34-7 after winning back-to-back games in 2024 and 2025, including a 29-10 victory at the Coliseum to close out the 2025 regular season.
8) Florida State-Miami
Although this rivalry is relatively young, both Florida State and the University of Miami have rich football traditions. The two teams have a combined eight national championships, dozens of All-Americans, and five Heisman Trophy winners. Since the late 1980s, one or both of the teams has frequently been highly ranked entering the game, so the matchup often carries national championship implications.
Miami leads the head-to-head series with a record of 37-33 after the Hurricanes’ 28-22 win in Tallahassee in October 2025, their second consecutive win in the rivalry. Both teams now play in the ACC.
9) Ole Miss-Mississippi State
Another intrastate rivalry is the Egg Bowl, or Battle of the Golden Egg, the name given to the annual matchup between Ole Miss and Mississippi State (since 1927 the winning team has been awarded the Golden Egg trophy). The Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry may be one of the most heated on the entire list. Even when enduring an otherwise poor season, for many the success of the season depends entirely on the result of the Egg Bowl. In 2018, five players were ejected after a mid-game, benches-clearing brawl. The following year, the contest was decided based on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Ole Miss has taken home the Golden Egg 67 times to Mississippi State’s 46; they’ve tied six times. Ole Miss won the 2025 Egg Bowl 38-19 to claim its third straight win in the series.
10) Florida State-Florida
Although this Florida rivalry had more national relevance in the 1990s and early 2000s, it still qualifies as one of the biggest college football rivalries. The Gators and Seminoles first met in 1958, and have played every year since then except 2020, when COVID prevented the meeting.
Florida dominated the series until the mid-1970s, when Bobby Bowden became the Seminoles head coach and began to turn FSU’s athletics department around. The rivalry was at its most heated in the 1990s, when both teams were ranked in the top 10 for every meeting between 1990 and 2001.
Florida leads the overall series with a record of 39-28-2. Florida State bested Florida in 2022 and 2023, but the Gators answered with back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025, including a 40-21 rout of FSU in Gainesville to close out the 2025 regular season.
11) Harvard-Yale
If the Army-Navy rivalry gets a mention on the list of the biggest college football rivalries, then so should Harvard-Yale. Just like the Army-Navy rivalry, when Harvard and Yale face off on the gridiron, often little (save pride, ego, bragging rights) is at stake. For decades, that was because the academically elite Ivy League didn’t participate in postseason football. That changed starting in the 2025 season, when the Ivy League began accepting bids to the FCS playoffs, adding a new wrinkle to a very old contest.
With all of that said, Harvard-Yale does have many of the ingredients that make for a good rivalry. They’re in the same athletic conference, they’re both in New England, and they’re both academic powerhouses with incredibly rich and prestigious histories. In fact, it’s one of the longest-standing rivalries in the country; the teams first played against one another in 1875. The matchup, simply called The Game by fans of both schools, is often presented as an archetype of American college rivalry in pop culture. Yale leads the all-time series 72-61-8 after winning the 141st edition of The Game in November 2025.
Honorable Mentions
12) Clemson-South Carolina
This in-state rivalry, known as the Palmetto Bowl, dates back to the 1890s. Clemson’s got the decisive edge with a record of 74-44-4 after the Tigers’ 28-14 win at Williams-Brice Stadium in November 2025.
13) Oklahoma-Oklahoma State
Might be the most one-sided “rivalry” on this list: Oklahoma leads the series with a record of 91-19-7. The Bedlam football game is currently on hiatus following Oklahoma’s move to the SEC in 2024, with no future meetings scheduled, though athletic directors at both schools have left open the possibility of a future renewal.
14) Pittsburgh-West Virginia
Known as the Backyard Brawl, only 75 miles separate Pitt and West Virginia. Although Pitt is in the ACC and West Virginia is in the Big 12, this rivalry remains heated. Pitt leads the head-to-head with a 63-42-3 record after West Virginia’s 31-24 overtime win in Morgantown in September 2025. The series will take another short hiatus after 2025 before resuming in 2029 as part of an extension that keeps the Brawl on the schedule annually through 2036.
15) California-Stanford
A Northern California battle between private school Stanford and public school California-Berkeley. Stanford leads at 66-51-11 after winning the 128th Big Game 31-10 in November 2025, ending Cal’s four-game winning streak in the series. Both schools moved together from the Pac-12 to the ACC in 2024.
16) Texas-Texas A&M
This long-standing rivalry was put on hold when Texas A&M moved to the SEC in 2012, but it returned to the schedule in 2024 once Texas joined the SEC as well. Now branded the Lone Star Showdown and played as part of the SEC’s Thanksgiving rivalry week, Texas leads with a series record of 78-37-5 after the Longhorns’ 27-17 win in Austin in November 2025.
17) Oregon-Oregon State
This matchup used to be dubbed the Civil War. Oregon leads, 70-49-10. Following Oregon’s move to the Big Ten and Oregon State’s status as a remnant Pac-12 member, the series will pause in 2026 before resuming in 2027 under a new multi-game agreement.
18) BYU-Utah
This rivalry goes by the name of the Holy War. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Utah’s got the edge with its 62-37-4 head-to-head record, but BYU has won three straight after a 24-21 home win over Utah in October 2025, the Cougars’ first three-game series winning streak since the late 1980s and early 1990s. Both schools now play in the Big 12.
19) Alabama-Tennessee
The Crimson Tide beat the Volunteers 15 times in a row until the Volunteers pulled off an upset in 2022, then Tennessee added another win in 2024. Overall, Alabama still leads the series at 60-40-7, including a 37-20 win in Tuscaloosa in October 2025 on the third Saturday in October.
20) Michigan-Michigan State
This is one of those big-brother-little-brother matchups, with MSU playing the role of little brother. Michigan leads the head-to-head at 75-38-5 after taking the 2025 game 31-20 to extend its current series winning streak to four games.
21) Minnesota-Wisconsin
This rivalry, the most-played in major college football history with 135 editions through 2025, sat deadlocked for years before Minnesota’s 17-7 snowy win in November 2025 nudged the Gophers ahead. Minnesota now leads 64-63-8 after taking the Paul Bunyan Axe in four of the last five meetings.
22) Michigan-Notre Dame
Michigan and Notre Dame are legacy teams, but compared to most rivalries on this list it’s a budding one. They’ve only played against one another regularly over the past 30 years, and the two schools currently have no scheduled meeting until 2033. Michigan leads the series 25-17-1.
23) Georgia-Georgia Tech
An intrastate, albeit somewhat one-sided rivalry known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Georgia’s got the decisive advantage with a head-to-head record of 73-41-5 after the Bulldogs’ 16-9 win in November 2025 extended Georgia’s current winning streak in the rivalry to eight games.
24) Lafayette-Lehigh
These two small private schools in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley are located just 17 miles apart. They’ve met a total of 161 times and didn’t miss a matchup between 1897 and 2020, which makes it the most-played rivalry and the longest annual series in college football history. Lafayette leads the all-time series 82-74-5, though Lehigh has taken the last two meetings, including a 42-32 win in November 2025.
25) Auburn-Georgia
This Deep South rivalry, known as the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, goes back to 1892. Georgia has the slight edge in terms of overall record (66-56-8), in part thanks to a current nine-game winning streak that matches the longest run by either side in the history of the series.
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