This is a list of rivalry games in college football. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams. [a]
Series | Trophy | Teams | First meeting |
---|---|---|---|
Beehive Boot | BYU, Utah, Utah State (previously Weber State) | 1971 | |
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy | Air Force, Army, Navy | 1972 | |
Florida Cup | Florida, Florida State, Miami (FL) | 2002 | |
Michigan MAC Trophy | Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan | 2005 | |
Northwest Championship | Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State | 1903 | |
Tri-State Big Three | Old Ironsides | Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia | 1900 |
Sacred Cod Trophy | Boston College, Boston University, Holy Cross | 1954 | |
Tobacco Road | Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest | 1924 |
Series | Trophy | Teams | First meeting |
---|---|---|---|
Big Three | Harvard, Princeton, Yale | 1877 | |
Sgt. York Trophy | Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin (previously Austin Peay) | 2007 |
This list is restricted to rivalries whose participants are currently in different Division I football subdivisions, and have played one another while in different subdivisions. Most of these began when both teams competed in the same (sub)division.
In this list, the FCS team is in italics.
Game | Trophy | Team | Team | First Year | Latest Year | Meetings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academic Bowl | Academic Bowl | Carnegie Mellon | Case Western Reserve | 1986 | 2024 | 38 |
Admiral's Cup | Admiral's Cup [28] | Maine Maritime [i] | Mass Maritime | 1946 | 2019 | 59 |
Backyard Brawl | Millsaps | Mississippi College | 1920 | 2013 [j] | 52 | |
Baird Brothers Trophy | Case Western Reserve | Wooster | 1984 | 2012 [30] | 25 | |
Battle for the Border Claw | Border Claw Trophy | East Texas Baptist | Louisiana Christian NAIA | 1947 [31] | 2019 | 22 |
Battle for the Drum | The Drum [32] | Occidental | Pomona–Pitzer | 1895 [k] | 2019 | 112 |
Battle for the Wagon | Conestoga Wagon [33] | Dickinson | Franklin & Marshall | 1889 | 2023 | 114 |
Battle of Sixth Street | Battle of Sixth Street Trophy [34] [35] | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps | Pomona–Pitzer | 1959 [l] | 2019 | |
Biggest Little Game In America | Amherst | Williams | 1884 | 2024 | 138 | |
The Book of Knowledge [36] | Carleton | Macalester | 1898 | 2019 | 67 | |
The Bridge Bowl | Bridge Bowl Trophy | Mount St. Joseph | Thomas More (KY) NAIA | 1990 | 2013 [37] [m] | 18 |
Bronze Ball | Anderson (IN) | Manchester (IN) | 1945 | 2019 | ||
The Bronze Turkey Game or Turkey Bowl | The Bronze Turkey Trophy [38] | Knox (IL) | Monmouth (IL) | 1888 | 2023 | 134 |
Centennial Cup [39] | Hobart | Rochester | 1892 | 2019 | 112 | |
Cereal Bowl | Goat Trophy | Carleton | St. Olaf | 1919 [40] | 2019 | 100 |
The Chowder Bowl | Mass Maritime | SUNY Maritime | 2007 | 2024 | 16 | |
Cortaca Jug | Ithaca | SUNY Cortland | 1930 | 2024 | 82 | |
Cranberry Bowl | The Scoop [41] | Bridgewater State | Mass Maritime | 1974 | 2019 | 46 |
Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Game | Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy | Baldwin Wallace | John Carroll | 1923 [42] | 2019 | 59 |
Doehling–Heselton Memorial Trophy | Lawrence | Ripon | 1893 | 2024 | 122 | |
Dutchman's Shoes | RPI | Union (NY) | 1886 | 2024 | 121 | |
Edmund Orgill Trophy | Rhodes | Sewanee | 1899 [n] | 2024 | 91 | |
Founders Trophy | Chicago | Washington (MO) | 1933 | 2019 | 38 | |
Gate City Soup Bowl | Greensboro | Guilford | 1997 [43] | 2016 | 20 | |
Gettysburg–McDaniel | Gettysburg | McDaniel | 1891 | 2019 | 73 | |
Goal Post Trophy [44] | Juniata | Susquehanna | 1923 | 2019 | 74 | |
The Hammer [45] | Augsburg | Hamline | 1926 | 2019 | 79 | |
Helmet Trophy | Anna Maria | Castleton | 2009 | 2019 | 11 | |
Tommie-Johnnie Game | The Holy Grail | Saint John's (MN) | St. Thomas (MN) FCS | 1901 | 2019 [o] | 89 |
Johns Hopkins–McDaniel | Maryland Railroad Lantern | Johns Hopkins | McDaniel | 1894 | 2024 | 102 |
Keystone Cup [47] | Delaware Valley | Widener | 1977 | 2019 | 42 | |
Lefse Bowl | The Troll Trophy [48] | Concordia (Moorhead) | St. Olaf | 1921 | 2019 | 70 |
Lincoln Football Trophy [49] | Franklin & Marshall | Gettysburg | 1890 | 2023 | 108 | |
Little Brass Bell [50] | North Central (IL) | Wheaton (IL) | 1900 | 2019 | 101 | |
Little Brown Bucket [51] | Dickinson | Gettysburg | 1892 | 2023 | 88 | |
Maple Sap Bucket [52] | Vermont State University – Castleton | Norwich | 2009 | 2024 | 15 | |
Mercer County Cup | Grove City | Thiel | 1892 [53] | 2019 | 106 | |
Monon Bell Classic | Monon Bell | DePauw | Wabash | 1890 | 2024 | 130 |
Occidental–Whittier | Myron Claxton's Shoes | Occidental | Whittier | 1901 | 2019 [p] | 111 |
Old Red Lantern [54] | Denison | Wooster | 1889 | 2019 | 88 | |
Old Rocking Chair Classic | Mac-Jack Rocking Chair [55] | Hamilton | Middlebury | 1911 | 2019 | |
Oldest College Rivalry West of the Mississippi [56] | Coe | Cornell (IA) | 1891 | 2019 | 129 | |
Paint Bucket [57] | Hamline | Macalester | 1887 | 2019 | 120 | |
Pynchon Saw Game | Pynchon Saw Trophy | Springfield College (MA) | Western New England University (MA) | 2013 | 2019 | 7 |
Seafaring Scuffle | Merchant Marine | SUNY Maritime | 2009 | 2019 | 11 | |
Secretaries Cup | Coast Guard | Merchant Marine | 1949 | 2023 | 52 | |
Smudge Pot Trophy Game | The Smudge Pot | California Lutheran University | University of Redlands | 2012 | 2023 | 11 [58] |
The Little Army–Navy Game | The Mug [59] | Coast Guard | Norwich Cadet | 1929 | 2024 | 96 |
Steven Dean Memorial Trophy | Catholic | Georgetown FCS | 1976 | 2019 | 19 | |
The Game (Hampden–Sydney vs. Randolph–Macon) | The Game Ball | Hampden–Sydney | Randolph–Macon | 1893 | 2024 | 128 |
The Regents Cup | Frostburg State D-II | Salisbury | 1973 | 2018 [60] | 46 | |
The Stagg Hat [61] | Lycoming | Susquehanna | 1949 | 2019 | 55 | |
Transit Trophy Game | The Transit Trophy | RPI | WPI | 1894 | 2024 | 117 |
Trinity–Wesleyan football rivalry | Trinity | Wesleyan | 1885 | 2024 | 123 | |
The Trophy [62] | Pacific Lutheran | Puget Sound | 1931 | 2022 | 98 | |
Victory Bell Classic | Victory Bell [63] | Franklin (IN) | Hanover | 1898 | 2019 | 89 |
Wagon Wheel | Lewis & Clark | Willamette | 1949 | 2019 | ||
War on I-94 Trophy [64] | Wisconsin–Eau Claire | Wisconsin–Stout | 1917 | 2019 | 97 | |
Wilkes-Barre Mayor's Cup | King's (PA) | Wilkes | 1996 [q] | 2019 | ||
Wooden Shoes Rivalry Trophy | Hope College (MI) | Kalamazoo College (MI) | 1910 | 2019 | 95 |
Series | Trophy | Teams | First meeting |
---|---|---|---|
Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium | C-B-B Trophy | Bates, Bowdoin, Colby | 1892 |
Little Three | Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams | 1899 |
This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material that does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic.(December 2020) |
Following are the longest active continuously-played series in NCAA college football. [65] [66] [67] [68] [ obsolete source ] Many historic series were interrupted by World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic and World War II. More recently, other longstanding rivalries were terminated by the conference realignments of the early 2010s and early 2020s, or were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Series | Continuous since | Series nickname / Trophy | NCAA Div. | First meeting | Series leader | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lehigh–Lafayette | 1897 | The Rivalry | FCS | 1884 | Lafayette | Most played series in college football. [66] No game played in calendar 2020 due to COVID-19, but played in April 2021 as part of the Patriot League's rescheduled spring 2021 season. |
Minnesota–Wisconsin | 1907 | Paul Bunyan's Axe | FBS | 1890 | Wisconsin | Most played series in FBS [65] |
North Carolina State–Wake Forest | 1910 | NC State–Wake Forest rivalry | FBS | 1895 | NC State | |
Kansas–Kansas State [69] | 1911 | Sunflower Showdown | FBS | 1902 | Kansas | |
Iowa State–Kansas State [70] | 1917 | Farmageddon | FBS | 1917 | Iowa State | Longest never interrupted series in FBS [71] |
North Carolina–Virginia [72] | 1919 | South's Oldest Rivalry | FBS | 1892 | North Carolina |
Following are the NCAA Division I and II series that continued for the most consecutive seasons before being interrupted. Eight of the eighteen series on this list are defunct rivalries from the old Big Eight Conference. Six are rivalries interrupted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Series | Continuous years | Length | NCAA Div. | First meeting | Notes / reason for interruption |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma–Oklahoma State [73] [74] | 1910–2023 | 114 years | FBS | 1910 | Ended by Oklahoma's move to the Southeastern Conference. [75] |
Clemson–South Carolina [65] | 1909–2019 | 111 years | FBS | 1896 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Wabash–DePauw [76] | 1911–2019 | 109 years | Div. III | 1890 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Nebraska–Kansas [65] | 1906–2010 | 105 years | FBS | 1892 | Longest continuous series in FBS before interruption Ended by Nebraska's move to the Big Ten |
Michigan–Ohio State | 1918–2019 | 102 years | FBS | 1897 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Dartmouth–Cornell | 1919–2019 | 101 years | FCS | 1900 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Penn–Cornell | 1919–2019 | 101 years | FCS | 1893 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Purdue–Indiana | 1920–2019 | 100 years | FBS | 1891 | Interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Texas–Texas A&M [65] | 1915–2011 | 97 years | FBS | 1894 | Ended by Texas A&M's move to the SEC; resuming in 2024 with Texas' move to the SEC |
Oklahoma–Kansas [65] | 1903–1997 | 95 years | FBS | 1903 | Longest continuous series in FBS until annual play ended in 1997 Ended by advent of Big 12 divisional play Annual play resumed in 2011 with end of Big 12 divisional play, and ended again with Oklahoma's 2024 move to the SEC |
Missouri–Kansas [65] | 1919–2011 | 93 years | FBS | 1891 | Ended by Missouri's move to the SEC |
Missouri–Iowa State [65] | 1919–2011 | 93 years | FBS | 1896 | Ended by Missouri's move to the SEC |
Nebraska–Iowa State [77] | 1921–2010 | 90 years | FBS | 1896 | Ended by Nebraska's move to the Big Ten |
Duke–Georgia Tech [78] | 1933–2022 | 90 years | FBS | 1933 | Rivalry pre-dates Georgia Tech's admission into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 1983. Ended by changes to the ACC's scheduling format effective in 2023. |
Nebraska–Kansas State [79] | 1922–2010 | 89 years | FBS | 1911 | Ended by Nebraska's move to the Big Ten |
Nebraska–Missouri [80] | 1922–2010 | 89 years | FBS | 1892 | Ended by Nebraska's move to the Big Ten |
Ohio State–Illinois [81] | 1914–2002 | 89 years | FBS | 1902 | Ended by Big Ten's change to non-round robin scheduling |
Presbyterian–Newberry [82] [83] | 1919–2006 | 88 years | Div. II | 1913 | Ended by Presbyterian's move to Division I |
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that operates in NCAA Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in Southern California and organized into nine athletic programs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer are combined teams for sports purposes.
The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Rocky Mountain Showdown is the name given to the Colorado–Colorado State football rivalry. It is an American college football intrastate rivalry between the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State University Rams; the winner of the game receives the Centennial Cup. It began in 1893 and was played annually from 1899 to 1958, except for 1901, 1905, and 1943–44. It was revived in 1983 and played periodically until it became an annual rivalry once again from 1995 to 2019.
The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 after playing as an Independent from 1892 to 1992.
The Ball State Cardinals football team is a college football program representing Ball State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football. Ball State plays its home games at Scheumann Stadium on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals compete in the Mid-American Conference as a member of the West Division. The team is currently led by head coach Mike Uremovich, who was hired on December 4, 2024.
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin in the sport of American football. The Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Their home games are played at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.
The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team is the intercollegiate American football team representing Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The Mountaineers have competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Sun Belt Conference since 2014. Appalachian plays its home games in Kidd Brewer Stadium, named after former head coach Kidd Brewer, whose 1937 squad was unbeaten and unscored upon during the regular season, outscoring opponents 206–0.
The Illinois State Redbirds football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Illinois State University located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The school's first football team was fielded in 1887. The team plays its home games at the 13,391 seat Hancock Stadium. They are coached by Brock Spack.
The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level.
The Battle for the Bell is an American college football rivalry game played by the Marshall Thundering Herd football team of Marshall University and the Ohio Bobcats football team of Ohio University. It is a regional rivalry, with the universities' campuses located about 80 miles (130 km) from each other, with a bell awarded as the trophy for the winner of the game. While Marshall and Ohio first played in 1905, they did not start playing for "The Bell" until 1997 when Marshall rejoined the Mid-American Conference. With Marshall's move from the MAC to Conference USA in 2005, the rivalry game was on hiatus for several years. The series unexpectedly resumed in 2009 when the Herd and Bobcats faced off in the 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which Marshall won 21–17. A six-year contract between the schools began in 2010. The six-year series contract between the two schools was not renewed following the 2015 season. The rivalry resumed in the 2019 season, with additional games scheduled for the 2027, 2028, and 2029 seasons. Ohio leads the all-time series over Marshall 33–21–6.
The Memphis Tigers football team represents the University of Memphis in college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Tigers play in the American Athletic Conference as an all-sports member. They play home games at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The team's head coach is Ryan Silverfield. Since their inaugural season in 1912, the Memphis Tigers have won over 500 games and appeared in seventeen bowl games.
The Battle for the Bell is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Tulane University Green Wave football teams. The two schools are located about 110 miles from each other via Interstate 10 and Interstate 59, making for a heated game.
100 Miles of Hate is the unofficial nickname given to the American college football rivalry game between the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team of Middle Tennessee State University and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team of Western Kentucky University. Fans began to refer to the game as "100 Miles of Hate" when the rivalry resumed in 2007 after a 16-year hiatus.
The Southern Utah–Weber State football rivalry, known as the Beehive Bowl, is the annual football game between Southern Utah University and Weber State University. Between 1984 and 2006, the schools met 17 times. In 2011, Southern Utah joined the Big Sky Conference, making it a yearly rivalry. On January 14, 2021, the Western Athletic Conference announced that they are reinstating football, with Southern Utah among the teams moving to the WAC. On June 16, 2022, the two schools announced a six-game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2026.
The Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens are the joint varsity intercollegiate athletic programs for Pomona College and Pitzer College, two of the Claremont Colleges. It competes with 11 women's and 10 men's teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) of the NCAA Division III.
The Arkansas–Texas Tech football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between the Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas and the Red Raiders of Texas Tech University.
The 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
The Coastal Carolina–Liberty football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team of Coastal Carolina University and Liberty Flames football team of Liberty University.
The Appalachian State–Marshall football rivalry, known colloquially as The Old Mountain Feud, is a college rivalry between the Mountaineers of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and the Thundering Herd of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The rivalry is significant for the competitiveness of the contests, as well as its place in contemporary Appalachian culture. Both campuses residing in the Appalachian Mountains, the two public universities both were once teacher's academies.
Upheaval within the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conferences has threatened some cherished rivalries, while rekindling others. In Oregon, the Civil War may soon be over.