College Football Rivalry Games We Wish Would Come Back
Rivalries are the lifeblood of college football. Each year, teams across the nation clash in matchups that date from the late 1800s to present day and divide fans along team lines, state lines and even bloodlines.
Knowing that championships, bowl games and bragging rights are on the line just adds spice to already-intense matchups, and it makes the games worth marking on your calendar months in advance. This fall, we’re getting several great rivalries back, including Pitt-Penn State and BYU-Utah (who actually already met up in 2015’s Las Vegas Bowl).
But there are a number of rivalries we’re still waiting for. Here are eight rivalries we’d love to see resume on a regular basis. Two are returning soon in limited form, but we want to see them become a consistent part of the college football calendar. Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.
Arkansas-Texas
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The old Southwest Conference is gone but not forgotten. It fostered some truly nasty rivalries within Texas’ borders, but one of its best pairings matched the flagship university of the small state that borders Texas.
It’s been 25 years since Arkansas left the SWC to join the Southeastern Conference, but the memories remain strong. The teams’ 1969 meeting, which Texas won 15-14, was considered one of the top college football games of the 20th century and keyed the Longhorns’ national championship. Texas has dominated the series historically, leading 56-22, but the teams have met just five times in the last 25 years.
Arkansas leads those meetings 3-2, including a 31-7 whipping of the Longhorns in the 2014 Texas Bowl. Under Bret Bielema, the Razorbacks favor physical, hard-nosed football centered on the run game.
Texas has been trying to toughen up under Charlie Strong, although Strong is bringing in the Air Raid offense run by former Tulsa offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert this fall. Either way, if these teams hooked up in regular home-and-home dates, it would be fun and exciting for both sides.
Auburn-Georgia Tech
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On September 3, Clemson will visit Auburn for the first half of another home-and-home series between the Interstate 85 rivals. In recent years, the ACC and SEC Tigers have resurrected a once-dormant series that dates back to 1899; this will mark their fifth meeting since 2007 with another set for Clemson in 2017.
It gives hope that another ACC-SEC Deep South rivalry involving Auburn can get back on track soon, too. Auburn and Georgia Tech’s rivalry dates back to 1892, with the teams forging a deep shared history. From 1906-1987, the teams met annually with the exception of 1943, continuing the series for 24 years after Georgia Tech left the SEC in 1963.
However, they’ve met just twice since then, with the Yellow Jackets taking both ends of a home-and-home series in 2003 and 2005. No further meetings are scheduled. The series has been historically close, with Auburn holding a 47-41-4 all-time lead. Only 111 miles of Interstate 85 separate the two campuses, making it a natural candidate for a renewal sooner rather than later.
Colorado-Nebraska
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Colorado football is a shell of its former self. Bill McCartney built the Buffaloes into a national power, starting a streak of 10 consecutive winning seasons, including five seasons with at least 10 wins and a national title in 1990. But the program has fallen on hard times. A decade has passed since CU’s last winning season, and the Buffs are on their third head coach (Mike MacIntyre) in that span.
Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, Colorado is 5-40 in league play, and its high-water mark has been a pair of four-win seasons. Nebraska bolted at the same time for the Big Ten. Life in the 14-team Big Ten hasn’t been all roses, either. In five seasons, the Cornhuskers have one 10-win season and one division title despite playing in the West Division, the weaker of the league’s two sides.
McCartney turned the Colorado-Nebraska border rivalry into something special (and kind of nasty, at times) by declaring the Cornhuskers his team’s biggest rival, even when the Huskers didn’t necessarily reciprocate.
The game became a staple of Black Friday, often with major Big 12 title implications. The teams have agreed to play four times between 2018 and 2024, a step in the right direction, but this would be a natural yearly rivalry and a great addition to both programs’ schedules.
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Florida-Miami
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Florida is one of the nation’s biggest football hotbeds. It’s home to some of the best prep football players, a must-visit for any college coach serious about top-level talent. And many of those players stay within the Sunshine State’s borders, landing at Florida, Florida State, Miami or other FBS programs that call the state home.
That makes for intense rivalries. Florida and Florida State face off annually in a nonconference clash, and the Seminoles and Miami do the same in an annual ACC cross-division showdown. Both rivalries are heated, fun and storied, but a third pairing lags behind.
Florida and Miami met yearly from 1944-87 but have crossed paths on the gridiron only six times since, with two of those meetings coming in bowl games. Their last meeting was in 2013, with Miami taking a 21-16 win over the Gators.
The teams have scheduled a neutral-site meeting to begin the 2019 season in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl, but no more meetings have been set beyond that game. That seems like a bit of a tease. A true Sunshine State Power Five round robin with an accompanying trophy would be a perfect addition for the high-level football that already takes place within the state’s borders.
Kansas-Missouri
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Kansas and Missouri will never be confused with elite national football powers, but their rivalry is one of the nation’s most historic and intense. The programs and their supporters don’t care for one another, dating back to guerrilla raids between the states that predated the American Civil War.
The Border War (later renamed the Border Showdown) was closely contested and always meaningful, at least to the two sides. On November 24, 2007, the teams met at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium with plenty on the line. Kansas was No. 2 in the nation and Missouri No. 3, with the winner expected to ascend to No. 1 following previous No. 1 LSU’s defeat at the hands of Arkansas. Missouri won 36-28, ending the regular season as the nation’s top-ranked team.
Missouri won the last three meetings in the series and leads the overall series 57-54-9. However, the teams have not met since 2011 following Mizzou’s departure for the SEC. There is no sign that the rivalry will resume any time soon, although Democratic vice presidential candidate, Kansas native and Mizzou grad Tim Kaine recently made a plea for its renewal, per For the Win's Andrew Joseph.
If it returned, Missouri and Kansas fans would, at the very least, have a healthy outlet for their frustrations.
Memphis-Tennessee
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On the surface, Memphis-Tennessee isn’t much of a rivalry. Memphis has always played “little brother” to the Volunteers on the gridiron, with UT holding a 22-1 all-time lead in the series. Memphis’ only win was 1996’s 21-17 upset of a Vol team quarterbacked by Peyton Manning that would go on to win 10 games and finish No. 9 nationally.
But while Butch Jones is bringing Tennessee back to prominence, good things are happening on the other side of the state, too. Memphis won 19 combined games the past two seasons under Justin Fuente, and while Fuente is now coaching Virginia Tech, the Tigers hired Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell to keep momentum humming.
The Tigers stunned a 10-win Ole Miss team in the Liberty Bowl last fall, a sign that they can hang with the SEC’s best. Getting Tennessee on the schedule regularly would be a win-win for the state’s football fans.
Missouri-Nebraska
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When Nebraska left the Big 12 behind for the Big Ten in 2011, it left behind multiple longtime rivalries. One of the best was its pairing with border foe Missouri. The Cornhuskers lead the rivalry 65-36-3, but it dates back to 1892 and is the third-oldest college football series west of the Mississippi River.
The 1997 meeting was a true college football classic. Missouri led the game late 38-31, but a throw to the end zone deflected off a Tiger safety and the foot of Nebraska player Shevin Wiggins into the arms of receiver Matt Davison, who caught it for a game-tying touchdown. Nebraska won 45-38 in overtime, maintaining a win streak over Missouri that stretched to 24 games until the Tigers finally broke through with a 41-24 win in 2003.
The teams actually split the last eight meetings, with three of the last four meetings matching Top 25 teams. In that sense, it was a shame the series ended with the Huskers heading to the Big Ten and Missouri departing for the SEC. There have been no rumblings of a rivalry renewal, but it’d be good to see these teams back on the same field again.
Texas-Texas A&M
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This Thanksgiving weekend, we’ll get some great rivalry games on the college football slate. Michigan-Ohio State. Alabama-Auburn. Notre Dame-Southern California. Mississippi State-Ole Miss. Washington-Washington State. Iowa-Nebraska.
One that won’t be on the docket? Texas-Texas A&M. The rivals haven’t met since 2011, and no matchup appears to be on the immediate horizon. The Longhorns and Aggies share a state, and their fans share an intense dislike for each other. But there is no sense that the rivalry’s hiatus will end any time soon.
While the two shared league locales in the old Southwest Conference and the Big 12, it was must-see TV as one of college football’s best, most intense rivalries. But following Texas’ 27-25 win in 2011, the series was mothballed due to A&M’s departure for the Southeastern Conference.
A&M didn’t care for Texas’ deal with the Longhorn Network and wanted to create its own legacy in the SEC. Results have been mixed for both. Texas slipped in Mack Brown’s final years and is trying to dig out under Charlie Strong, who is 11-14 in two seasons in Austin. Following an 11-2 SEC debut keyed by Johnny Manziel’s Heisman Trophy-winning effort, A&M is 25-14 (11-13 in SEC play) under Kevin Sumlin.
The Texas Bowl could have paired the duo following the 2014 season, but instead, officials invited Arkansas from the SEC to face the Longhorns; the Razorbacks put a 31-7 whipping on Strong and Co.
A meeting (and a chance for the Aggies to cut into Texas’ 76-37-5 series lead) doesn’t appear imminent, but it would be a lot of fun for college football fans in the Lone Star State and beyond. Per Philip Rossman-Reich of SEC Country, Strong told Texas boosters in June that discussions were ongoing about reviving the series.
"They're trying to work something out where we can play the Aggies," Strong told attendees, per Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com.
That would be welcome news for all involved. It’s possibly the most missed rivalry in the game today.
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