The Greatest College Football Rivalry Games

College football certainly envelops a lot of us. It has the power to unite and lead whole communities to flood together and support their favorite sports teams. Games played on autumn Saturday afternoons, or evenings for that matter, create tremendous spirit and an unrivaled atmosphere of tradition, pageantry and passion.

In terms of evaluating the great football rivalries you have to consider a variety of mitigating factors. The three primary aspects to evaluate when determining the overall strength of a rivalry is 1) does the rivalry often times determine the outcome of the national championship picture,  2) are the games close and played with great emotion, not only by the players but the fan following, and 3), is the series of competitions fairly even between the two schools (is the game literally a toss up year-in and year-out)?

Although the first pick in my Top-10 of all-time rivalries rarely determines the national championship anymore, its importance to American society cannot be overlooked. The Army - Navy Game.

1. Army - Navy: There is something about being played at a neutral site that drives up my appreciation rating for consideration in the all-time rivalry series. Not to mention the fact that these particular student athletes have a full plate of responsibilities and are dedicated and disciplined in achieving their responsibility benchmarks on a daily basis. The game is always close as both teams usually utilize a ball control option/wishbone based offense where the game is broken down to its simplest elements; field position, ball security, time of possession and defense. It is traditional football at its finest, and the style of the game matches the lifestyle of a student/athlete/soldier - grind it out! This is one of the oldest rivalries in America and these participants represent non only their institution, but our country as well, and we should extend respect where it is merited!

2. Michigan - Ohio State: This game, due to the outrageous number of fans who attend on both sides of the equation, truly defines college football from a historical and winning perspective as both teams are among the leaders in national championships. The only drawback is that it does not occur at a neutral site, but hey, the “Shoe” and the “Bighouse” are certainly elite venues. This past seasons game, when both teams were ranked atop the polls was perhaps the most entertaining of the series, which is always in doubt and usually fairly low scoring. Defense and turnovers, followed by hard hitting action is the norm. Always an entertaining way to spend Thanksgiving weekend!

3. Texas - Oklahoma: This game is an absolute riot, literally! If you don’t plan on going to a street fight or bar room brawl, stay home - get yourself some ice cream - and watch the game on TV. The action is as hostile in the stands and it is at the Texas State Fair. If you’ve ever been to the Cotton Bowl to witness half the stadium in blood red and the other half in burnt orange you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t been to this venue, you can’t really call yourself a true fan of college football. The best aspect of this game is it occurs during the midpoint of the season when the heat of the summer starts to give way to the colors and crispness of the fall. The national championship race begins to unravel at the conclusion of the Red River Shootout. It is an icon in itself considering the historical significance of college football.

4. USC - Notre Dame: Although this series lost a little luster as both teams struggled mightily during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, it is making quite a comeback. The game two years ago with Reggie Bush pushing Matt Linert into the endzone after a miraculous 4th down completion in the final minute was sensational. I still remember watching as a  kid when Anthony Davis returned all of those second half kickoff returns for an unbelievable Trojan comeback. And it has its share of gamesmanship with Notre Dames turf management crew leaving the grass height at nearly six inches to nuetralize SC speed. The pep rally the night before still leaves the hair standing on the back of my neck.

5. Florida - Florida State: Another outstanding end of the season venue where the winner is usually a part of the national championship or BCS equation. I think Florida State and Miami would be up here as well, along with Michigan and Notre Dame, but recently these games have been moved to the first game of the season and, well, the action is often less than stellar. Both venues at Florida “The Swamp” and Florida State are outstanding with the fans going crazy. Almost without fail, the game is decided well into the fourth quarter and rarely does one team rip of a series of wins over two or three in a row. There is a definite home field advantage in this series.

6. South Carolina - Clemson: This game has taken on a new level of significance with Tommy Bowden at Clemson and Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina in the last few years. Less than a 100 miles apart, their is true and valid dislike between the participants, which has increased due to a season-ending brawl a couple of years ago the kept both participants from receiving bowl bids. If you’ve ever been to the state of South Carolina, you know how beautiful this state is, but the most important thing is the religious experience football brings to the southern states. The atmosphere at both venues is electric and the game is defensive oriented and extremely hard hitting and is usually played in excellent weather given the latter part of November. Not often on everyone’s rivalry list, it is often overshadowed by the Florida Schools or other notable competing SEC rivalries.

7. Alabama - Auburn: Both schools are located less than 100 miles apart and they both HATE each other. You are either one or the other, there is no middle ground or appreciation for either school and as a coach, you better win this series or you WILL be fired. Enough said! Another rivalry that is similar but doesn’t carry quite the weight of consequences for losing is Oregon - Oregon State. This is another bitter rivalry where both schools are located close by and they don’t like each other. It has taken on a little more significance every year as both schools are on a bit of a resurgence of late.

8. Oklahoma - Nebraska: For years both schools were at the top of the national championship picture and the rivalry is most always played near the Thanksgiving weekend. The rivalry has diminished in recent years as both teams are pigeon-holed on opposite sides of the Big-12 conference and do not always play each other on a yearly basis anymore. Back in the Osbourne - Switzer era, college football didn’t get any better than this!

9 and 10: Any combination of games featuring the premiere schools in the SEC. Florida - Auburn, Tennessee - Auburn, Georgia - Florida, LSU - Arkansas, LSU - Georgia, LSU - Tennessee. It just doesn’t get any better than this from week to week and the difficulty of going through this schedule undefeated, or with one or two losses speaks for itself. Although the conference really only has 6 elite teams, it is quite a six. It would be like the PAC-10 and Big-10 combining the elite schools of USC, UCLA, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State or Wisconsin into one conference. Having Florida, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Georgia in one conference is amazing. Then throwing in Arkansas and South Carolina just adds to the mix. Playing in the SEC is like having a whole season of nothing but rivalry games! A football fans paradise!