What's the most intense, ferocious, bitter rivalry in college football?

[cboy4]

OKLAHOMA-TEXAS? :shrug:

Tradition and emotion play big roles in OU-Texas lore

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

Updated: October 10, 2008

The current economic woes notwithstanding, the rich do get richer.

Oklahoma and Texas don't need top-five rankings to grab the nation's attention by the shirt collar. The rivalry between the Sooners and the Longhorns has too much else going for it.

There's the setting, smack in the middle of the Texas State Fair in Dallas. If you're looking for the Cotton Bowl, it's at the foot of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, past the Bovine Beauty Parlor and the Swine Arena. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. central time, one hour after kickoff of the National Meat Goat Evaluation Show.

Kid you not.

Playing in the shadow of Big Tex, the 52-foot cowboy, the fact that the Sooners and Longhorns are No. 1 and No. 5 is just so much icing on the fried Twinkie (another State Fair specialty).

There is the tradition. Texas began playing a game at the State Fair, 200 miles north of its Austin campus, in the early 1920s. However, the Longhorns didn't play the Sooners in Fair Park until 1929. You haven't heard much about the earlier games, because there's only so much heat in a rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.

Nearly eight decades after their first meeting on that site, UT and OU will play in the newly renovated Cotton Bowl, which has increased by 16,000 seats or so to a capacity of more than 92,000. They are divvied up equally between the schools. Pick the appropriate aisle, and you can walk with all burnt orange on one side and crimson on the other.

"It's probably the best atmosphere, I would say, in college football," Oklahoma linebacker Ryan Reynolds said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=3632574


AP Photo/Ron Heflin
The Cotton Bowl has been the home of one of college football's premier rivalries.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE:
Tennessee-(Florida :puke:)

[TZ]

1. Oh come on..its Ohio State and Michigan

Say what you want about Big Ten football...that rivalry is intense...I'm an Ohio native..it really goes beyond football in some ways...

Coaches get fired because they can't beat THAT team no matter what their record is....

[cboy4]

2. Oh I have a lot to say about big 10 football.

But wait until I stop snickering.

HA

[TZ]

5. In a way I think its better

because in the big 10 for awhile its been mostly OSU and Michigan contending..While in the SEC you don't have ONE big rivalry-Georgi Florida, Florida-Tennessee, Tennessee-Georgia..ect...

[Jack from Charlotte]

16. No rivalry can be..."intense, ferocious, bitter"... unless it has 2 instate teams.

I was involved in Florida v Florida State. 150 miles apart. Lived there and have family members from both. During the 90's they were 2 of the 3 top schools contending for national honors. Each knocked the other out of shots at National Champ games. But most people in Florida don't care. They all moved in from other states and don't know one school from the other.

However, I lived in South Carolina, where... EVERYONE and I mean every person in the state is for either South Carolina or Clemson. I was shocked at the intensity of the...intense, ferocious, bitter feelings.

So I must say.... the teams must be in state for the intensity to be so big. I know Fla v Georgia. Good, big time frequently for SEC East supremacy.... and yet when the fans are not interacting EVERY DAY like in state fans do.... it's not the same.

So I say..... Bama v Auburn is the most....intense, ferocious, bitter.... rivalry in college football.

[joeybee12]

3. Was it Larry Smith who got fired from USC because he couldn't beat ND?

That used to be a very intense rivalry, USED to be.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. USC had brutal stretches against Notre Dame and UCLA

It was a gruesome, mid '80s through mid '90s vs. Notre Dame, and early '90s through late '90s vs. UCLA.

Larry Smith was responsible for most of the losing streak against Notre Dame but he did beat UCLA many times. He wasn't fired for the Notre Dame streak as much as poor seasons his last two years, including many off-field problems by his players, and an incredibly embarrassing rout by Fresno State in the Freedom Bowl. He made some stupid comments, dismissive of the program's heritage. I remember hearing from a few fellow USC alums who I hadn't talked to in years. They were livid about Smith's remarks, especially since the program seemed to be in decline.

The USC/Notre Dame rivalry is weird from a USC standpoint. It's always a big game but the intensity level depends on how good UCLA is at the time. When UCLA is in a down period we kind of dismiss them and expect to win. The Notre Dame rivalry attains greater focus. But when UCLA is kicking our ass then it's the Bruins who are by far the most hated rival, since you have to live with it side by side all year.

[BulletproofLandshark]

4. Yep, poor John Cooper.

OSU might have won a title or two in the '90s were it not for Cooper not having his team ready for Michigan.

[Lefty48197]

9. Buckeyes vs. Wolverines

Bo and Woody made that game what it is and will forever be.

[Ganja Ninja]

12. Like they always say:

You can't spell scum without a UM and you can't spell unsavory without an OSU.

[spoony]

18. Well with RichRod, it'll be Michigan-Toledo

for a few years. Maybe we'll get back to competing with Ohio State someday. You're right, though, Lloyd was fired because he couldn't get it done versus the Buckeyes, which is about all one could fault him for.

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. Auburn-Alabama.

People have been killed over this game. Nothing is close when it comes to sheer hatred between the fans.

[Jack from Charlotte]

17. I agree. Unless both teams are in state.... there is no way...

it can be the most ....intense, ferocious, bitter. Bama v Aub's is just unreal. Nothing's even close.



I wrote the below re this on another thread.....

I was involved in Florida v Florida State. 150 miles apart. Lived there and have family members from both. During the 90's they were 2 of the 3 top schools contending for national honors. Each knocked the other out of shots at National Champ games. But most people in Florida don't care. They all moved in from other states and don't know one school from the other.

However, I lived in South Carolina, where... EVERYONE and I mean every person in the state is for either South Carolina or Clemson. I was shocked at the intensity of the...intense, ferocious, bitter feelings.

So I must say.... the teams must be in state for the intensity to be so big. I know Fla v Georgia. Good, big time frequently for SEC East supremacy.... and yet when the fans are not interacting EVERY DAY like in state fans do.... it's not the same.

So I say..... Bama v Auburn is the most....intense, ferocious, bitter.... rivalry in college football.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. It would be Miami/Florida if it weren't for one minor variable

Lack of guts by one of the two.

I don't think fans across the nation realize the level of hatred and intensity when that rivalry was in its heyday in the '80s, before Florida ran away. I guarantee it would dwarf anything out there today, especially when you consider the potential of the games in the past 20 years.

Granted, you can stick Florida in the equation with plenty of schools. I remember visiting a sporting apparel shop in Tennessee about 10 years ago while wearing a Canes shirt. I started talking to the owner about college football, and he laughed like hell when I expressed frustration that the Canes and Gators no longer played: "I guess nobody likes those people."

[Jack from Charlotte]

15. Miami needs to worry about beating Duke........

and stop talking about the good old days when they used to have good teams and could beat Temple 9 times each year and other tough Big East foes. Forget the big boys who play on National TV before 90,000 fans against teams like 4th ranked LSU. Those days are over. You've won......3 of your last 11.. ACC games. You suck. No one goes and no one watches. Even your....BIG.... game vs FSU... nobody cares.

Oh, and congrats for beating a team from Florida this season. That big win over Central Florida was.... so wonderful.

Why don't you try and sign up FIU again. There's your new rivalry. I'd say it might be USF since Miami just inked a 5 year deal with them but lets be honest.... Miami isn't within 2 TD's of USF's team, now are they.

[BOSSHOG]

10. From a historical perspective

The Arkansas-Texas rivalry of the 60's was probably the best ever. The world stopped spinning for Razorback and Longhorn Fans the week before the Big Game.

[El Supremo]

11. Naw. I was there. The UT/A&M rivalry was always bigger.

And it was still big until the Bonfire Tragedy. There were a lot of crazy stunts in the week before those games.

[chelsea0011]

13. Harvard/Yale

[BOSSHOG]

19. That's a great one. I was fortunate

in the 80's to be stationed in Philadelphia and went to a lot of Penn games. The Ivy League (at least back then) was competitive, colorful and a whole lot of fun.

[KamaAina]

22. I went to The Game once

well, the second half, anyway. We were outside tabling for Students for Nuclear Disarmament. Then at halftime, all the security people and whatnot outside the gates just left! In we went, only to see the Elis get pounded by the damnable Al Gore wannabes. :grr:

Later, I helped a friend with a disability get out of the Bowl in the midst of the chaos. Later that evening, while attempting to re-establish her whereabouts :evilgrin: , I came across a bunch of very drunk Ivy Leaguers in one of the common rooms, reading off the final score of every The Game ever played, starting from the late 19th century! :beer:

[IndianaJones]

14. Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Arkansas. nt.

[RL3AO]

20. Hard to narrow it down to one.

Michigan-Ohio State
Auburn-Alabama
Texas-Oklahoma

Those are the three that stick out to me.

[RedSpartan]

21. Lehigh vs. Lafayette

The oldest, most played, uninterrupted rivalry there is. Maybe it doesn't get the national press of the big boys, but trust me, it's bloodthirsty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehigh-Lafayette_Rivalry