The Biggest College Football Rivalries

• First meeting: 1890
• Series record: Navy 62-55-7
• Last game: Army 17-11 on Dec. 9, 2023
• Why it’s great: Army-Navy might be the most patriotic sporting event on the planet.

Nearly every American knows a current or former military member. Those ties, along with the service academies’ unique run-first offenses, make for one of the most interesting games on the sports calendar.

Army and Navy used to field championship-caliber teams, but those days are long gone as other programs have surpassed them on the gridiron. Still, the Black Knights have dominated the series of late, winning six of the past eight games after the Midshipmen won the previous 14 in a row.

Army nearly scored one of the series’ biggest upsets in 2015, taking a 17-14 lead into halftime despite being massive 23-point underdogs on the spread. But Navy held the Black Knights scoreless in the second half, rally for a 21-17 win.

A year later, Army finally prevailed, beating the Midshipmen for the first time since 2001 with a 21-17 victory despite being a six-point underdog.

From a betting perspective, the Over/Under is almost usually the most interesting market for this series. Due to each team’s non-existent passing games, the total is usually one of the lowest of the season for any NCAA football game. The Over/Under was 28.5 in 2023, with the Under hitting for the 17th time in the past 18 meetings in the Black Knights’ 17-11 win.

Bill Belichick brought out the helmet: 😂

“Go Navy, beat Army”

pic.twitter.com/2hSJ7oPhTf

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) December 9, 2023

• First meeting: 1893
• Series record: Alabama 50-37-1
• Last game: Alabama 27-24 on Nov. 25, 2023
• Why it’s great: There’s nothing like college football in Alabama, and the Iron Bowl is basically the state’s Super Bowl.

It’s telling that former Alabama head coach Nick Saban went 12-5 (.706) against Auburn, well below his .877 winning percentage over 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Two of Saban’s five losses came as the top-ranked team in the country, including the 2013 “Kick Six” game where the Tigers’ Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Crimson Tide were 10-point favorites but blew their chance at a third straight national championship with the loss.

"AUBURN'S GONNA WIN THE FOOTBALL GAME!"

Seven years ago, the legend of the "Kick Six" was born. pic.twitter.com/7w96kF6KDz

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 30, 2020

While Alabama has won the last four meetings, Auburn has been a live underdog in those games, especially at home at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Crimson Tide are just 1-5 against the spread with three outright losses there since 2013. They also needed double overtime to win there in 2021 and a 4th-and-32 conversion to hold off the Tigers last season.

Saban retired following the 2023 season and was replaced by Kalen DeBoer, kicking off a new era for this series starting in 2024.

• First meeting: 1897
• Series record: Michigan 61-51-6
• Last game: Michigan 30-24 on Nov. 25, 2023
• Why it’s great: Not only are these teams annually two of the best in the nation, but there is also genuine hate between alums and even residents of the bordering states.

Legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes famously told one of his assistants while on a recruiting trip to Michigan that he would push his car, which was running out of gas, to the Ohio line rather than “spend a nickel of my money.”

This rivalry is simply called “The Game,” which is fitting for one of the biggest sporting events of the year. You know a rivalry is serious when one of its eras is called the “Ten-Year War” (1969-1978).

After two decades of dominance by the Buckeyes, the Wolverines have turned the tide in the 2020s, winning the last three matchups. That followed a 17-2 run by Ohio State from 2001 to 2019 where the Buckeyes were 13-6 against the spread.

The most memorable game during this time was not an Ohio State cover, though the top-ranked Buckeyes did defeat second-ranked Michigan 42-39 in 2006 en route to the BCS Championship Game.

The favorite has generally covered in this series, as seven of the last nine games were decided by double-digits. But the Wolverines have scored the most memorable underdog wins, including their 24-12 victory against top-ranked Ohio State in 1969 and back-to-back wins over the second-ranked Buckeyes in 1995 and 1996, the latter of which came as 17-point road underdogs.

The rivalry reached new heights during Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh era. But with Harbaugh returning to the NFL after leading the Wolverines to a national championship in 2023, we’ll see if the rivalry swings back in Ohio State’s favor.

• First meeting: 1900
• Series record: Texas 63-51-5
• Last game: Oklahoma 34-30 on Oct. 7, 2023
• Why it’s great: The Red River Rivalry is like a modern-day Army-Navy, as it’s played at a neutral site and usually has national championship implications.

Fans flood the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and split the fan sections right down the middle, creating a magnificent visual unique to this rivalry.

Since 2000, both teams were ranked coming into this matchup 17 times, including last season when Oklahoma rallied to upset Texas (-4.5) 34-30 at the Texas State Fair. In 2008, it was the top-ranked Sooners who were stunned as 6.5-point favorites when the Longhorns pulled off a 45-35 upset.

The teams split their meetings in 2018, the only time they’ve played twice in the same season. An eight-point underdog in the Red River Shootout, Texas held off a furious rally for a 48-45 win. But Oklahoma turned the tables in the rematch, winning the Big XII Championship Game 39-27 and covering as a six-point favorite.

The Red River Shootout lives up to its name, serving as the antithesis of Army-Navy. The winning team has scored at least 34 points in eight of the past nine games, and there have been at least 60 total points in eight of the last nine. If you like points, this is the game for you.

Luckily, this rivalry will continue to live on as both teams are SEC-bound together, adding a new wrinkle to the legendary series.

• First meeting: 1929
• Series record: USC 50-34-7
• Last game: UCLA 38-20 on Nov. 18, 2023
• Why it’s great: There may be more historic or heralded rivalry games, but no college football game divides an entire city like this one.

What makes this rivalry great is both the pageantry and historic venues, as UCLA home games are played at the Rose Bowl and USC’s are held at the Los Angeles Coliseum. In recent years, each side has donned its home uniform of Powder Blue for the Bruins and Cardinal for the Trojans, creating an exceptional visual for fans.

USC has had its national championship hopes dashed by UCLA on multiple occasions, most notably in 2006. As 10.5-point underdogs, the Bruins flummoxed the second-ranked Trojans 13-9, ending USC’s chances of competing in a fourth straight BCS Championship Game and securing UCLA’s lone win in the series between 1999 and 2011.

Like most college football rivalries these days, the Crosstown Game has been ruled by offense lately. The winning side has topped 34 points in 12 of the past 13 games, making the Over a good bet for these matchups.

Like Oklahoma and Texas, these teams will join a new conference together, leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. A Rose Bowl berth may not officially be on the line when they square off on Nov. 23, but a berth in the newly expanded College Football Playoff could be.

Photo By Gregory Shamus/Getty Images