10 Most Anticipated Rematches of the 2016 College Football Season
It's one of the best features of college football—whenever there's a fantastic game with a memorable finish in the regular season, there will most likely be a rematch the next year.
So while college football fans aren't guaranteed a rematch of last season's incredible finale between Alabama and Clemson this year, everyone can take comfort in the fact the Michigan-Michigan State and Oklahoma-TCU thrillers will get another round in 2016.
Here are the top 10 most anticipated rematches from the 2015 college football season that will take place in the 2016 regular season, from hotly contested rivalry games to major chances at revenge for jaw-dropping endings. (Some of these rematches fit both categories, making for even bigger showdowns.)
These rematches were chosen and ranked by how they played out in the 2015 season and how important they potentially could be in the 2016 season. While we don't know what the exact stakes of these games will be until they actually happen, the composite preseason Top 25 will be our helpful guide.
Tell us which rematches you're looking forward to the most in 2016 in the comments below.
Honorable Mention
1 of 11
Tennessee vs. Georgia (October 1): The Volunteers and the Bulldogs might be the two best teams in the SEC East this season, and they'll square off in Athens for a huge swing game in early October. Georgia running back Nick Chubb's injury against Tennessee last year on Rocky Top will add even more fuel to this fire.
Texas vs. Oklahoma (October 8): One of the most unpredictable rivalries in college football had one of the biggest upsets of the 2015 season, when a Texas team that finished with a losing record upset eventual Big 12 champion Oklahoma. The Sooners will be out for revenge.
Ole Miss vs. Arkansas (October 15): An unexplainable finish between Arkansas and Ole Miss last fall cost the Rebels a shot at the SEC Championship Game. This year, Ole Miss will get a week off before visiting Arkansas, while the Hogs will be fresh off a matchup against Alabama. This one will be physical for sure.
Stanford vs. Oregon (November 12): Stanford didn't make the College Football Playoff last season, and a loss to what turned out to be an underwhelming Oregon team played a huge role in that miss. These two teams have combined for every Pac-12 title since 2009, and this matchup could determine who wins this year's crown.
Duke vs. Miami (November 26): It probably won't have the championship implications of the rest of the games on this list, but you know you want to see what Duke has in store for Miami after last year's controversial ending. To make things even better, this game will be on the final week of the regular season.
10. Florida vs. Tennessee
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2015: Florida 28, Tennessee 27
2016: September 24 (at Tennessee)
This rematch between SEC East rivals Florida and Tennessee has a lot going for it—a long winning streak on the line, divisional title implications and the shadow of last season's finish, when Florida rallied in the fourth to win on a 4th-and-long touchdown pass to receiver Antonio Callaway.
The bad blood between these two programs is constantly boiling, and Florida defensive back Jalen Tabor threw some major shade at Tennessee on Twitter just a few days ago (h/t the Swain Event's Jayson Swain):
"@dc_wilson954 they ain't tripping they just can't hang , something like UT in the forth lol
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Florida has won 11 straight over Tennessee, as the Volunteers have struggled to get back to championship contention. Butch Jones' team has plenty of reasons to believe that this could be the year that all changes. Florida, on the other hand, hopes to prove that last year's run to the SEC East wasn't a fluke and that the Gators are here to stay under Jim McElwain.
Few early-season games will have as much importance as this one.
9. Stanford vs. Notre Dame
3 of 11
2015: Stanford 38, Notre Dame 36
2016: October 15 (at Notre Dame)
One of the best games of the 2015 college football season came down to a clutch field goal by Stanford kicker Conrad Ukropina, and the result knocked Notre Dame out of College Football Playoff contention. This year, both teams will feel like they have enough to be contenders again, but the rematch will happen a month-and-a-half earlier.
This fall, preseason Pac-12 favorite Stanford will travel to Notre Dame to take on the Fighting Irish in October. The Cardinal will be coming off a one-two punch of Washington teams in their divisional race, while Notre Dame will be fresh off two road games against ACC opponents.
This has the makings of a swing game for both teams' title chances. Stanford should be tough on defense and still dangerous on a transitioning offense with Heisman finalist Christian McCaffrey back, and Notre Dame can rely on the experience it gained all throughout the depth chart in what was a tough, injury-filled 2015 campaign.
The winner of this matchup gets a huge boost to its playoff resume, while the loser could get eliminated from playoff contention, depending on the results of its early-season tests. The last four matchups between these two cross-country rivals have been decided by a touchdown or less. Five in a row looks likely.
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8. Alabama vs. Tennessee
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2015: Alabama 19, Tennessee 14
2016: October 15 (at Tennessee)
It's a cross-divisional matchup that you could see again in Atlanta at the SEC Championship Game. Alabama and Tennessee—the Third Saturday in October—is a historic rivalry that has been dominated by the Crimson Tide in the last decade, but the Volunteers have come oh so close a couple of times in their nine-game skid.
Last season, Tennessee pulled ahead of Alabama late in Tuscaloosa with a touchdown run by Jalen Hurd, but Derrick Henry capped an impressive drive by Jake Coker to give the Tide the narrow victory. This year, heavily hyped Tennessee will return most of its starters and will play in front of its massive home crowd on Rocky Top. And then we could see a rematch of the rematch.
"The loser of the Third Saturday has to still be good enough to take care of business in its own division, and that hasn't been the case in a long time," Will Shelton of Rocky Top Talk wrote. "The Vols and Tide haven't met when both were ranked since 2005, and haven't met when both were in the Top 10 since 1999."
Tennessee will be looking for revenge in a huge way, while Alabama will be looking to take care of business and start rolling toward another trip to the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. This should be the biggest rivalry meeting between the two in a long time.
7. Oklahoma vs. TCU
5 of 11
2015: Oklahoma 30, TCU 29
2016: October 1 (at TCU)
This matchup last season almost changed the landscape of the Big 12 title race and the College Football Playoff, as a banged-up TCU team came just short of beating eventual conference champion Oklahoma with a gutsy two-point conversion.
The rematch should be even better in 2016. TCU should be a lot closer to full health and playing in front of its home fans, while Oklahoma will bring its high-powered offense with Baker Mayfield and Samaje Perine into Fort Worth after a start to the season that features matchups against Houston and Ohio State.
This year's meeting should be more like what many would expect out of an Oklahoma-TCU matchup. The Sooners will be the favorites with a greater amount of recognizable star power, while TCU will bring most of its experience in the form of head coach Gary Patterson's trademark defense. Both teams have talent on the other sides of the ball, but the matchup between the OU offense and the TCU defense will be huge.
The Sooners and the Horned Frogs are looking like the top two teams in the Big 12 heading into the 2016 season, and the winner of this game will take an early lead in the title race. This one should be a lot of fun.
6. Ohio State vs. Michigan State
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2015: Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14
2016: November 19 (at Michigan State)
Last season, this game decided the winner of the Big Ten East, which went on to play in the College Football Playoff for the second straight season. Michael Geiger's walk-off field goal and subsequent celebration sent shockwaves throughout the college football world as Michigan State downed Ohio State in Columbus.
The rematch will be one of the most intriguing ones on the entire 2016 slate. Both teams have some of the fewest returning starter counts in the country, but they'll have a good amount of experience under their belts by the second-to-last weekend of the regular season.
Close games seem to go hand-in-hand with this series, as the last five matchups have been decided by no more than 12 points. Three of those four regular-season matchups came down to three points, one point and three points, respectively. Expect a clash of styles—and a close one at that—between the Buckeyes and the Spartans this November.
Although mutual rival Michigan is the early favorite for the conference crown this year, these two teams have combined for every Big Ten title since the 2010 season. This is turning into one of the best and most important rivalries in college football, and this year should be another fantastic chapter.
5. Michigan vs. Ohio State
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2015: Ohio State 42, Michigan 13
2016: November 26 (at Ohio State)
Ohio State gave Jim Harbaugh a not-so-friendly welcome to one of college football's biggest rivalries last season by smacking the Wolverines by a score of 42-13 in the Big House. This year, things should be different as Michigan looks for revenge and its first win over Ohio State since 2011.
This time around, Michigan will most likely be the preseason favorite between the two rivals. Harbaugh got the Wolverines turned around in a heartbeat and has an exciting mix of returning and new firepower on his roster for the 2016 season. New defensive coordinator Don Brown will have a lot of pieces to work with as the Wolverines hope to cut down on the six touchdowns they allowed to the Buckeyes last fall.
Of course, this will be a much different Ohio State team from the one that routed the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. While the Buckeyes are loaded with youth at most positions on the roster, they'll be able to rely on the strengths of quarterback J.T. Barrett, as Michigan will trot out a first-year starter under center. By this point in the November, OSU will be an experienced outfit.
Ohio State will have home-field advantage in a venue Michigan hasn't won at since 2000, but the Wolverines will have been already tested away from home with big games at Iowa and Michigan State. Although this series has been lopsided in favor of the Buckeyes in recent seasons, the second meeting between Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh has the makings of a potential classic.
4. Alabama vs. LSU
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2015: Alabama 30, LSU 16
2016: November 5 (at LSU)
It's the heavyweight collision that has come to define the SEC West for the last several seasons—Alabama vs. LSU. Although Alabama's two-touchdown win over LSU last season extended its winning streak to five straight, this will still be a hotly contested rematch between the two powerhouses.
Last year's matchup was defined by Alabama's defensive shutdown of LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who looked like he was going to literally run away with the Heisman Trophy before a rough night in Tuscaloosa. This year, Fournette should have some more help on offense in the form of a passing game, but the Alabama defense has the potential to be even deadlier than it was in 2015.
"Despite the five-game losing streak the Tigers are mired in, this game typically serves as one of the swing games in the SEC West, with the winner moving on to have a chance and the loser being all but out of the running for the SEC title game," Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote.
This matchup will take place in Baton Rouge this November, and the last four meetings between these two teams in Death Valley have been decided by a touchdown or less—with two games needing overtime. Get ready for this one.
3. Michigan vs. Michigan State
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2015: Michigan State 27, Michigan 23
2016: October 29 (at Michigan State)
This in-state rivalry added a lot more fuel to its fire last season when Michigan State won on one of the most improbable plays of all time—a fumbled punt that was returned for a touchdown as time expired. That play alone will make the rematch between the Wolverines and the Spartans must-see TV.
But there's a lot more to this matchup in 2016 than the revenge factor from a now-legendary ending. That win was the first of three clutch wins for Michigan State over top competition that played a huge role in getting the Spartans a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth. This season, they have a crown to defend.
Michigan, on the other hand, enters this season as the presumed favorite in the Big Ten East. The Wolverines have more returning starters than both Michigan State and Ohio State, and they'll be entering the second year of Jim Harbaugh's tenure in Ann Arbor. Michigan has room to improve after a breakout 10-win campaign and is a trendy pick for the College Football Playoff this year.
This matchup in Spartan Stadium will be the first of three huge road games for Michigan after an easier start to the 2016 schedule. Will Michigan State get its eighth win in nine meetings against its in-state rival, or will Harbaugh's team be able to flip momentum in this series and take an early lead in the Big Ten East race?
2. Alabama vs. Ole Miss
10 of 11
2015: Ole Miss 43, Alabama 37
2016: September 17 (at Ole Miss)
Few predicted Ole Miss to upset Alabama in the 2014 campaign. Even fewer thought the Rebels could do it twice in a row with a victory in Tuscaloosa last year. But both happened, making this year's rematch another huge matchup in the SEC West.
Alabama managed to win the SEC and get to the College Football Playoff after both losses to Ole Miss, but those defeats stick out in the minds of the Crimson Tide. They'll be out for revenge again this season and will most likely be the favorites in a return trip to Oxford.
Ole Miss lost some of its top stars from 2015, but it will still be able to rely on quarterback Chad Kelly and a spread offense that has given Alabama a lot of trouble in the last couple of years. Last year's matchup was a wild shootout, and the Rebels wouldn't mind getting into another one of those against an Alabama offense that will be reloading at several key positions.
No team has beaten Nick Saban in three straight seasons since 1997-1999, when Purdue—yes, that Purdue—did it to Saban's Michigan State squads. This will be one of the biggest early-season games on the college football schedule for yet another year.
1. Clemson vs. Florida State
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2015: Clemson 23, Florida State 13
2016: October 29 (at Florida State)
With both teams occupying Top Five spots on most preseason Top 25 lists, there's a decent chance this year's Clemson vs. Florida State matchup could be a national quarterfinal. Since 2009, the winner of this game has won the ACC's Atlantic division. The last five victors have gone on to take the conference title.
Last season, Clemson snapped a three-game losing skid against Florida State with a defensive victory inside Death Valley. After allowing a touchdown to FSU star running back Dalvin Cook on the second offensive snap of the game, the Tigers only let the Seminoles tack on two more field goals.
This year, Clemson should have the advantage on offense yet again with the likes of Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman and Mike Williams back, but Florida State could return every one of its starters on that side of the ball from a 10-win team. The Seminoles will have the experience edge on defense as well as the bonus of playing in front of their home fans in Tallahassee.
Both of these teams are bona fide national title contenders in 2016, and their games usually go a long way in determining the ACC's role in the championship picture. They won't come much bigger than this one as Florida State looks to avenge last season's tough loss in Clemson.
Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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