College Football's Top Ten Rivalries...

[buckeyefan78]

Peter Fiutak from FOX Sports gives his take on the top ten college football rivalries...

1. Michigan-Ohio State
2. Miami-Florida State
3. Alabama-Auburn
4. Army-Navy
5. Oklahoma-Texas
6. Notre Dame-USC
7. Florida-Georgia
8. UCLA-USC
9. Florida-Florida State
10. California-Stanford

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/3169406

I guess it's all opinion and where you grew up.

Here are my favorite rivalries...

1. Michigan-Ohio State
2. Michigan-Minnesota
3. Illinois-Ohio State
4. Michigan-Wisconsin
5. Minnesota-Wisconsin
6. UCLA-USC
7. USC-Notre Dame
8. Notre Dame-Michigan
9. California-Stanford
10. Washington-Washington State

[The Pirate Bob]

A whole bunch of Texans would surely add Texas/Texas A&M to any list. I will admit that it may deserve serious consideration too since it not only is one of the biggest rivalries over the decades because it was always the Thanksgiving day college game and watched by most people in the country after they filled their tummies each year with turkey.

[Alex]

Things I'm sad that I'm just old enough to remember but not really- Pitt-Penn State. For this one reason Rivalry Week depresses me to some extent. Pitt is an absolute skeleton of what it was at the height of this rivalry but at least there's a mutual dislike, even hatred for a lot of the Pitt fans. There's nothing extra in beating Michigan State. It's not as though beating them at the end '04 was any consolation for going 4-7. It wouldn't have made a difference whether that one was against MSU, Indiana or Bowling Green.

Penn State no longer has a rival. Ohio State-Penn State has become a big game since the games have been at least competitive since 2001 but it's hard to muster up the same dislike for the Buckeyes as it is for the Panthers. And OSU's #1 rival will always be Michigan. Illinois? I guess we could settle for #2 on their list. Does anyone except buckeye think that one is still a "rivalry"? More like just another trophy game.

Anyway, here are my Top 10, not including Pitt-Penn State.

1. Ohio State-Michigan
2. Army-Navy
3. Auburn-Alabama
4. Texas-Texas A&M
5. Notre Dame-Southern Cal
6. Texas-Oklahoma
7. Oregon-Oregon State
8. Clemson-South Carolina
9. Oklahoma-Nebraska
10. Lehigh-Lafayette (Go Engineers!)

[eric]

1. Michigam/OSU
2. Michigan/Notre Dame
3. Michigan/MSU
4. Michigan/Minnesota
5. Army/Navy
6. Texas/A&M
7. ND/USC
8. Georgia.Georgia Tech
9. Harvard/Yale
10. Cal/Stanford

[suedon1970]

My favorites:

1. Florida/Florida State
2. Florida/Georgia
3. Alabama/Auburn
4. Army/Navy (I still enjoy watching this game, don't know why!)
5. Florida State/Miami
6. Notre Dame/USC
7. Florida/Tennessee (intensified when Spurrier was coach vs Fulmer's Vols) Plus, my niece is a UT grad!
8. Harvard/Yale
9. Texas/Oklahoma
10. Georgia/Georgia Tech

[MountaineerDave]

I hate both teams, but I'm surprised to find that Oklahoma-Nebraska is only on Alex's list. I found something comforting and really cool about those Thanksgiving Friday games when I was a kid. Each team would run the ball 800 times, only gaining a quarter-yard each time. It was cool.

That's a rivalry I actually miss, and personally, find more compelling than Auburn-Alabama. Perhaps that's because I always watched it growing up on the day off from school, I don't know.

My personal top five (no time for ten right now) rivalries are as follows:
1. Ohio State v Michigan
2. Southern Cal v Notre Dame
3. WV v Louisville (in time, this rivalry will replace the Backyard Brawl; Pitt shows no signs of returning to even a shadow of its former glory)
4. WV v Pitt (this will continue to drop; it's cool and all, but will one day become a mid-season Big East matchup with even less on the line than is now; perhaps I have this sentiment because I'm not living in WV or PA, tho)
5. Miami v Va Tech (sure, I shall forever hope that somehow both programs implode in their own filthiness, but until then, I love how these two teams absolutely, positively hate one another, no matter their records)

[HibachiDG]

I found something comforting and really cool about those Thanksgiving Friday games when I was a kid. Each team would run the ball 800 times, only gaining a quarter-yard each time. It was cool.

After Thanksgiving is the only time I ever really try to make sure I watch Big 12 football.

Things I'm sad that I'm just old enough to remember but not really- Pitt-Penn State. For this one reason Rivalry Week depresses me to some extent. Pitt is an absolute skeleton of what it was at the height of this rivalry but at least there's a mutual dislike, even hatred for a lot of the Pitt fans. There's nothing extra in beating Michigan State.

Uh, there is nothing extra in beating PITT, though. MSU at least has the POSSIBILITY of having something extra at some point. Mutual dislike? Even hatred for Pitt fans? I'm not really sure where you get this, because, uh, it's not there. Do Pitt fans hate PSU? Probably. Do the PSU/MSU games tend to not be so great? I think in 50 years there will be a lot more PSU/MSU history than there is Pitt/PSU history right now. The bar is rather low in that regard, and hell, I'd say the MSU/PSU series SO FAR has been better than PSU/Pitt ever was. I'm not saying it's a great rivalry, I'm just saying that Pitt/PSU is, uh, nothing.

The losing record team wins a good bit in the PSU/MSU series. Maybe more times in ten years than the last 30 of PSU/Pitt. The games are generally CRAZY. Teams come back from all over. Sedrick Irvin runs for 250 damn yards.

Is there disdain between the fans? No. But, I think that has more to do with both schools being very similar with regards to how they feel about Michigan and Ohio State. I'd say MSU feels about Michigan the way PSU feels about OSU and MSU fans have some serious bitterness towards OSU the way PSU fans do with Michigan.

I don't think MSU/PSU is a rivalry...I just think it has the potential to develop into one. Might not happen, but hey, that's more than you can say about PSU/Pitt.


1. Michigan/Ohio State
2. Army/Navy...the gamess played in Philadelphia, at least
3. Florida/Florida St

The rest, I have no preference to order them. If the game is going to be good, then the game is going to be good. I definitely believe I take a mercenary approach to rivalries in college football.

[KevinBeane]

3. WV v Louisville (in time, this rivalry will replace the Backyard Brawl; Pitt shows no signs of returning to even a shadow of its former glory)


Sheesh. Everyone's always convinced the present is gonna be the future, even as tumultuous and unpredictable College Football is (see the rise of Rutgers and the fall of FSU just for this year's two examples; no one can possibly say how well Pitt will be three years from now, or five).

Anyway, I don't know if I have ten favorites, but let's see what I can come up with. Like Dave, I think some of these are just "cool." I can really explain further why I like.

1. Ohio State-Michigan
2. Akron-Kent
3. USC-UCLA
4. Washington-Washington State
5. Oregon-Oregon State
6. Colorado-Colorado State
7. Ole Miss-Mississippi State
8. Bowling Green-Toledo
9. WVU-Pitt
10. Michigan State-Penn State (the first college football rivalry made in a laboratory rather than born).

[DETMURDS]

MICHIGAN vs OHIO STATE is #1

Nothing comes close to my opionion except Navy VS Army. THATS ME.

[bama4256]

Of course I love Alabama versus Auburn, but one of my all-time favorites was when Oklahoma played Nebraska on Thanksgivings.

I also like Florida St and Miami. Always a close game decided by a field goal.

[catman]

I think Iowa/Minnesota is a decent rivalry. It is usually the last game of the year and both teams want to take Floyd of Rosedale home with them.
I agree that Michigan/Ohio St, Army/Navy, USC/ND, Auburn/Alabama, and USC/UCLA are big games as well.

[The Irish]

Louisville/ Kentucky. Granted it's never close but there are times when KEntucky looks like it might get the win.

Notre Dame/USC. Last years game was fantastic best game of the century. This years game won't match last years because it won't be close.