Given to the winner of the annual "Crosstown Showdown", this bell has been a source of pride and bragging rights since 1942. That was the year that the student presidents of UCLA and USC signed an agreement saying that the winner of this Southern Pacific Railroad Bell keeps it for a year and gets to paint it in their school colors.
When I got to ring the bell about a year ago, I felt such a surge of Bruin pride. I know that there are other trophies that are older, such as the Little Brown Jug and the Old Oaken Bucket, but the Victory Bell does it for me. Especially when it's painted blue.
Now that the traditions are out of the way, let me get on with my favorite rivalries.
MICHIGAN - OHIO STATE
If I had to pick the top rivalry in college football this decade, this would be the one. It has often decided a berth in the National Championship game, and the game in Columbus a few years ago, when the two teams were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, was an epic one.
Put it this way: HBO did a documentary about this rivalry earlier this year—that should say something.
HARVARD - YALE
The original football rivalry in my view. Let's go down the checklist: The rivalry has been going on for over 120 years, many of the games have been classics, Ivy League championships often being decided on the outcome.
Plus, these are two of the top schools in America. I know they aren't on a national scale anymore, but I couldn't mention rivalries without mentioning these two.
ARMY - NAVY
This is called "The Nation's Rivalry". The only one where attendance of the game is mandatory for all students.
Besides, how many other games have the President in attendance? Where both student bodies march out in formation on the field? Where both teams listen to both schools' alma maters at the end? And where the seniors know that they are about to serve their country and are extremely emotional, win or lose?
I'm sorry, but there's nothing like this game.
TEXAS - OKLAHOMA
For control of the Red River; I love the way the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (the halfway point between the two campuses) is divided down the 50-yard line for this one, with crimson on one side and burnt orange on the other.
I also like the fact that it's the culminating event of the Texas State Fair every year, and that national championship implications have depended on the outcome in recent years. Not to mention the emotion involved.
GRAMBLING - SOUTHERN
This Bayou Classic is the number one rivalry among the HBCUs in my opinion, part of college football's best kept secret (that's starting to cease being one, thank goodness).
Held in New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend, football is just one part of the whole thing. It's a battle among the Greeks, seeing who can step the best, and especially the bands; the halftime show is considered as important as the game, if not more.
Check out the game on TV sometime—NBC has televised it since 1991—and you'll see what I mean.
NOTRE DAME - USC
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