The Red River Rivalry is only days away, where college football's nation-wide will be reminded of the great tradition, history, and passion that goes into such a storied rivalry. There's no denying that Texas-Oklahoma is one of the sports' great rivalries, but where does it stack up with the other terrific rivalries this sport has to offer? Let's rank the top 10, all of which filled with a little extra hatred, passion, competitiveness, and whether they'll admit it or not, mutual respect that the other games on the schedule simply cannot match.
Michigan-Ohio State
When you think of great rivalries across all of sports, Michigan against Ohio State will always come to mind. In the best battle of the midwest, this one pits two of the nation's most storied programs against one another in the final week of the regular season, a duel that often has major championship implications and, rivalry aside, is one of the biggest games on the college football calendar. Countless times we've seen tensions burst through both on the field and in the locker room, as the bad blood surrounding this showdown is as fierce as any in sports. The nickname 'The Game' tells you all you need to know about the stakes of this game. Ohio State won't even say Michigan's name - they're no more than "The Team Up North" as coined by former OSU coach Woody Hayes, and you won't catch a Buckeye typing out the letter "M" - it's a big X instead. The rivalry began all the way back in 1897 and from 1918 all the way until 2020 was played uninterrupted. That 1918 meeting was only 2.5 weeks after World War I ended, and it made it survived all the way until the pandemic. At that time the Buckeyes had been riding an 8-game winning streak in the rivalry, owning the showdown despite still trailing the all-time series, but the Wolverines have rallied for three consecutive wins since to regain control. Each of the last three meetings have been top-5 matchups. That made it 14 all-time and 26 with the two in the top-10. This rivalry has it all, and there's not many across college football that would put it anywhere but the top of this list. And it's almost always filled with serious implications, not to mention the sheer hatred to go with it. 'The Game" is number one.
2. Alabama-Auburn
Over the last decade-plus, there might not be a rivalry in college football that has produced more classics than the Iron Bowl. It's a crazy phenomenon - Alabama has been the class of college football forever now while Auburn has been more on-and-off in recent years than anything else - but there's something about these two in the last week of the season that produces far greater magic than your normal college football rivalry. The Kick Six in 2013 was up there with the best moments in the history of sports, and Auburn had won in another classic three years prior in the iconic Cam Newton comeback. Since the Kick Six Auburn has lagged far behind Alabama most of the way, but there's just something about these two meeting at Jordan-Hare that manages to level the playing field and deliver some classics. Just last season it was Alabama's miraculous 31-yard 4th and goal touchdown that saved their season in the final moments, and two years before that it was Alabama's 97-yard last-minute TD drive to force overtime and eventually win, also saving their season. The showdowns between these two have been epic, and the Crimson Tide know never to take Auburn lightly. Auburn had the best winning percentage against Nick Saban of anyone in the SEC, and this great rivalry now enters a new chapter as Kalen DeBoer takes over as the Alabama head coach.
3. Army-Navy
It doesn't get more American than Army-Navy, traditionally the final game on the regular season schedule and the only college football game of the day. The pride the schools take in this game runs deeper than any other game on this list, a matchup that carries indescribable levels of tradition and passion to the point where if you called this the greatest rivalry in sports, it'd be hard to sit here and argue. The rivalry commenced in 1890 when Cade Dennis Mahan Michie accepted a challenge from the Naval Academy, and the rest is history. With both teams still rolling with their traditional option-style offenses that is always going to play into a low-scoring game, these showdowns are won in the trenches played in the physical, pound-for-pound way that football was meant to be played. Compared to say, the Red River Shootout, a game like this might be won with 20 points. The teams haven't combined for more than 40 points in over a decade and haven't crossed 50 since 2005 - it's a great change of pace from the type of college football we see all season long. And with low totals comes more close games - 10 of the last 13 games have been decided by one possession and it feels almost like a given at this point it's going to be a tight, low-scoring, down-to-the-wire affair no matter what these teams' seasons looked like to this point. The heart and the history of this rivalry is like no other - it's why Army-Navy has its own special day on the college football calendar.
4. Texas vs. Oklahoma
Few sporting events unite a region quite like the Red River Rivalry, located in the Cotton Bowl at the heart of the Texas State Fair in an early October meeting that everyone in the area is planning their autumn around. This showdown began in the year 1900 and has produced countless classics ever since and should have many more to come as the two storied programs made their trek from the Big 12 to the SEC alongside one another. Of all the great rivalries on this list, this is one of only two on this list played at a neutral site. In one of the sport's coolest and most aesthetic venues, seas of orange and red flood the Cotton Bowl annually in what always feels like a perfect split of fans hungry for a big win. Offered referred to as the Red River Shootout, this game often produces no shortage of offensive fireworks and big moments, with plenty of high-scoring thrillers that have had big-time implications on the college football world. Just last year the teams played to a classic as the 3rd-ranked Longhorns went down in the final seconds, and that was two years after a 55-48 Oklahoma win on a TD with one-second left to cap off a 21-point comeback, and that was a year after a 4OT Sooners victory with another 98 combined points between the two. These teams will meet again this Saturday in their latest showdown with significant ramifications, the 22nd time this century at least one team will be ranked in the top-15.
5. Notre Dame-USC
A pair of storied programs that always seem to be playing for something, this rivalry pits history and tradition against one another in a way not many can match. No game on this list features two teams further in distance than this one, but these two have been going at it since all the way back in 1926, and the Trojans continue to find themselves right at the center of Notre Dame's independent schedule year in and year out. The "Bush Push" made for an iconic college football moment back in 2005, and at least one of these teams is almost always in contention at the time of their annual clash. Two of the most decorated programs in the sport have continued to keep this showdown going and it's continued to deliver, cementing it as one of the sport's greatest rivalries even as more than 2,000 miles separate the two schools.
6. Miami-Florida State
There's no love lost between these two in-state rivals, a pair of programs with plenty of history and plenty of hatred towards one another. This matchup started a bit later than the others on this list - their first meeting coming in 1951 - but the teams have done battle pretty much every year since with many memorable moments along the way. From FSU's blocked extra point to win it in 2016 to Miami's last-second TD to snap the skid a year later to Van Dyke's "illegal" spike in 2021, even the last few years have produced some thrilling endings. And from the 80s into the early 2000s, both teams were almost always in national title contention at the time of their meeting. The highest-ranked rivalry in the ACC, no matter the stakes you can always rely on these two to deliver a good one.
7. Florida-Georgia
You don't get called the "The World's Largest Cocktail Party" for no reason. One of the biggest days in the deep south, these two storied SEC programs do battle in Jacksonville on the third Saturday of October every year, with both schools pouring in huge numbers for a great day of tailgating and football. Reports suggest around 150,000 show up just to spend the day, even with a stadium that seats less than 70,000. The festivites before and during the game are enough to make for an incredible day, and what we get on the field isn't too bad either. Georgia has commanded the rivalry as of late, coinciding with their reign of college football these last few seasons, but it was the Gators who were victorious in 9 of the first 11 meetings this century. It's been a streaky battle between the two over the years, a rivalry that began in 1905 with seven straight Georgia wins, but the 90s to the 2010s were dominated by Florida before the 'Dawgs took control they've held ever since. One of the few rivalries played at a neutral site, this is a bucket list day for any real college football fan.
8. Ole Miss-Mississippi State
I'm not sure about everyone else, but the late-night Egg Bowl every Thanksgiving night has become a pretty decent staple of my Turkey Day these last few years. This one might not get the national spotlight the way some of these other rivalries do, but the disdain between one another is just as apparent. The battle for Mississippi has been controlled by the Rebels all-time, but it's been as competitive as any rivalry in recent years. The teams are split 15-15 over their last 30 meetings with a number of great battles mixed in there, many of which will real implications in the SEC and playoff picture. After all, these are two teams that were both included in the first ever College Football rankings poll in 2014. Even if it's been a poor campaign for either side, this sacred game is what the season comes down to in the eyes of many. This rivalry has survived realignment and will continue to be one of, if not the biggest game of the year for both sides.
9. Washington-Washington State
A rivalry so great it survived realignment, the Apple Cup has been a staple in college football, beginning with a 5-5 tie in the year 1900 and lasting all the way 'til now even after the two went their separate ways conference-wise. And the post-Pac 12 era of the Apple Cup started with a bang, as Washington State got sweet revenge on their archrival with a 24-19 win over the reigning national runner-ups, only their 3rd win in the last 15 meetings. This game was traditionally the last weekend of the regular season, going from that Saturday to the Friday after Thanksgiving a little while back, and in Washington's first year away from the Pac-12 the rivalry bumped up to an early-season Week 3 meeting, with tensions running just as high. These teams already didn't like each other one bit, and the element of Washington leaving Washington State out to dry in the Pac-12 adds yet another wrinkle to the bad blood flowing between the two. If there's one thing realignment couldn't kill, it's the Apple Cup - credit to these schools for making it happen even if it has to be out-of-conference.
10. Oklahoma-Oklahoma State
This one, sadly, did not survive the realignment that began this season, though I'm still holding out hope the schools admit their mistake and make it happen in the coming years. Bedlam was, in many ways, the Red River Shootout on steroids. You could always count on monster point totals out of these two when they took the field - this game has only gone under 50 once since 2010 and has gone over 70 seven times in that span. The fireworks are almost a given, and with Oklahoma State emerging as a legitimate power around the beginning of the 2010s, it's delivered some huge games along the way with serious championship implications. Just last year the Cowboys ended OU's playoff hopes with a 27-24 win at home, a sweet victory against a Sooners team leaving the Big 12 and effectively ending the rivalry, two years after Oklahoma State again knocked off Oklahoma with a victory in the final game of the regular season. Now Oklahoma is in firm control of the rivalry, which began in Guthrie, Oklahoma all the way back in 1904, but the Cowboys, at least in recent years, have been a good bet to give them a really good fight.
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