Ranking the 10 most-heated rivalries in college sports (2025)

The Backyard Brawl needs to be played annually — let's go ahead and get that out of the way from the outset. Only 75 miles along Interstate 79 separate these schools.Pitt leads the all-time series, 63-41-3, but the Panthers and Mountaineers' 2022 meeting was their first since the 2011 season. Prior to that, this rivalry was one of the longest uninterrupted battles in college football. One of the biggest meetings came in 2007 when unranked Pitt, who was 4-7 at the time, upset No. 2 West Virginia, 13-9, and cost the Mountaineers a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. It was the 100th meeting between the rivals.

These two SEC recruiting powers battle for recruits every year in Jacksonville, the site of Florida-Georgia war. Call it a war because that's exactly what is — opposing sides with an even split of fans who want to see the others upset on gameday. Before the last couple years of "down seasons" in Gainesville, the winner of this matchup usually won the SEC East andpushed forward from this game as a momentum-booster heading into the home stretch of the regular season.Georgia has won four straight in the series.

One of only two basketball-slanted rivalries ranked inside this top 10, Kentucky-Louisville is as ugly as it gets. The Wildcats won 10 of the last 12 meetings, including this season's 93-85 win featuring two nationally-ranked teams. There are fans who still talk about Kentucky's win over Louisville in the 1984 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, the point at which this series really got nasty. Separated by 80 miles, Kentucky and Louisville are two of college basketball's most storied programs. One of the more juicy storylines over the past few decades was Rick Pitino taking the Louisville job in 2001 after leading Kentucky from 1989-97. He won national titles at both programs. The two rivals met in the 2012 Final Four, a Kentucky victory leading to then-coach John Calipari's only national title at the program a few days later. Kentucky leads the all-time series, 40-17.

This matchup doesn't get the love it should, but the Egg Bowl can break up families in Mississippi — it's that hostile. The annual Thanksgiving fight between the Rebels and Bulldogs often determines which one of those teamschecks the box on aseason that exceeds (or falls below) expectations. In the last decade alone, there have been several memorable moments including Dak Prescott's fourth-quarter comeback and overtime win in 2013, the Rebels' costly "dog peeing" touchdown celebration from Elijah Moore in 2019.

Considering the depth at which these two programs have dominated the sport the last decade and change, this might be the most important annual rivalry in the SEC. Ask any former players associated with the game and there's a few from Alabama who would tell you LSU is a bigger rival than Auburn. It's that nasty. These two compete for the same elite talent every year and their November showdown often has top 10 billing. Alabama-LSU is anew inclusion in our updated rivalry rankings replacing Florida-Florida State.

Red River hate. From the pre-game pageantry to post-game war of words, the Big 12's best rivalry is incredibly bitter and that's going to continue with the Longhorns and Sooners now in the SEC. This series played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas features everything you want in a border war — legendary players and coaches, national championship and conference title implications and bragging rights year-round the following year. Texas and Oklahoma met twice during the 2018 season, only the third time that's happened in the same year in more than a century. Texas leads all-time, 64–51–5.

One of the SEC's most competitive rivalries and the most nasty, Alabama-Auburn's battle in the Iron Bowl every November shifts the college football world on its axis in a matchup often laced with national championship implications. Alabama leads the series 60–37–1. Alabama is 11-4 against Auburn since 2010 with two of those losses rankingamong the most memorable in the rivalry's rich history — Cam Newton's 21-point comeback in 2010 (national title season for the Tigers) and the jaw-dropping Kick-Six in 2013. Auburn kept Alabama away from a College Football Playoff opportunity in 2019with a thrilling win at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the second-straight time then-coach Gus Malzahn had beaten Nick Saban on The Plains.

Played on its own weekend in December for a decade now with national television billing, the Army-Navy Game emits patriotism for our Armed Forces and is one of the most-watched games of the college football season. If you had to introduce someone to college football who has never seen a game, this one's it. There's just something about this game played in Philadelphia, almost equidistant between the two academies. The Knights and Midshipmen first met in 1890 and have met annually over the past 90 years. And for much of the 20th century, these two programs were national powers with this game — at times — being played with national title implications.

Prior to this season's Duke sweep and run to an ACC title and Final Four appearance, the Tar Heels held considerable bragging rights after beating legendary Blue Devils coachMike Krzyzewski in his home finale and then taking him out of the NCAA Tournament in the Final Fourin his final game on the grand stage in 2022. Anyone who's been around the Tobacco Road rivalry knows how nasty it is between the fanbases and players involved. North Carolina-Duke has national relevance and most college basketball fans — no matter where they reside — would put this matchup in the top spot for the sport.North Carolina-Duke was built on disdain — public versus private universities separated by eight miles. These two have combined for more conference titles and national championships than any other rivalry in college basketball over the past four decades and featured dozens of the sport's all-time great players and coaches.

There's real hate between these two programs. Prior to last season, "The Game" featured top 15infive straight meetings. Michigan and Ohio State have captured college football's last two national championships and the Wolverines currently enjoy bragging rights on a winning streak in the series. See how much this rivalry means to college football? The level of respect for the opposition began todwindle a bit on Ohio State's side of the rivalry due to the Buckeyes' decade-plus reign of dominance prior tothe 2021 season, but now the disdain is even stronger. Ask anyone associated with "The Game" and they'll tell you the same thing: It's an extremely bitter fight that is anticipated for months every college football season.