With EA’s College Football 26 now out and players all across the country now exploring all the new features of the game, including the new mascots and new offensive playbooks, I think it’s time we look at what type of matchups will be the best in the new game. When I say “matchups” I don’t mean what two teams are the most equally matched, that would be too easy. You could just look at team overall ratings and performance and try to match up the most similarly skilled teams, but that’s not what college football is about, balanced matchups don’t happen super often, but you know what does? Rivalries!
Rivalries are a staple of college football and thus are a staple of College Football 26. Some rivalry teams will be horribly lopsided in terms of skill level, like Michigan and Michigan State over the last decade. Still, somehow, through pure hatred of one another and the extreme pride they take in winning their battles against their rivals, the games always seem to go either way. For instance, Michigan and Michigan State have split their ten games played since 2014, despite Michigan going 102-37 during that stretch while Michigan State has gone 77-57. It’s that legendary rivalry that led to incredible Michigan State upsets, including the “trouble with the snap” game in 2015 and the Halloween upset in 2020.
There are hundreds of rivalries, each with its own “rivalry game” feature in EA’s College Football series. Many rivalry games have names like the “Red River Rivalry” of Texas and Oklahoma or the Holy War of BYU and Utah. Most have trophies like the “Secretary’s Trophy” won in the Army-Navy game or the Paul Bunyan trophy for Michigan and Michigan State. These rivalries are steeped in tradition and loving hatred, but which one is the best?
10: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
Series record: tied 63-63-8
Name: Minnesota-Wisconsin game
Trophy: Paul Bunyan’s Axe
This might not seem like the most high-octane rivalry between two powerhouses, like we’ll see later on this list. It’s two mid-level Big 10 teams in the heartland of the country that aren’t exactly in the largest TV markets, but what this rivalry lacks in glitz and glamour, it makes up for with tradition and competition. This is America’s longest-running and most played rivalry, with a whopping 134 meetings going all the way back to 1890!
It’s an exceptionally long-running rivalry, but what might be more impressive is how evenly matched the series has been over the years, with the series record tied at 63 games. That tied record just makes this upcoming game even bigger. The anticipation is high for the game, but it’s also high for players like me who are going to want to play this rivalry in EA CFB 26!
9: Georgia vs. Florida
Series record: Georgia leads 56 (or 57)-44-2
Name: Florida-Georgia Game
Trophy: Okefenokee Oar
Formally known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” before both schools started to crack down on promoting alcohol to underage students. The game, which is always played in Jacksonville, provides one of the best atmospheres in college football, with a tailgating experience unlike any other. This game is explosive and exciting both in and out of the stadium.
Georgia has dominated as of late, winning seven of their last eight matchups, improving their win total in the series to 56… or is it 57? It depends on who you ask. If you were to ask a Georgia fan, they would say that the win in 1904 against the “University of Florida Blue and White” counted as the first game in the long-standing rivalry. However, Florida fans say that the Blue and White were not from the University of Florida, but rather from one of its predecessors, known as the Florida Agricultural College, which eventually merged with three other schools to create what is now the University of Florida. Either way, Georgia is up big in the series and has been dominant during the current Kirby Smart era.
8: Utah vs. BYU
Series record: Utah leads 62-36-4
Name: Holy War
Trophy: Beehive Boot
With a name like “holy war,” you know this rivalry is intense. It’s a matchup pitting the two major universities of Utah against each other. The name obviously refers to the fact that BYU is a religious institution, with 98% of the Student body identifying as members of the Church of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), while the University of Utah is much more secular.
The series has historically been dominated by Utah, but the last two games have gone to BYU. Now that both teams are in the Big 12 and set to play annually again for the first time since pre-COVID, the Cougars could start a new era of winning and close the gap with the Utes.
7: Notre Dame vs. USC
Series record: Notre Dame leads 50-37-5
Name: Notre Dame-USC Game
Trophy: Jeweled Shillelagh
Summary: While most of the Rivalries on this list are geographically similar, either in one state or in one region in the U.S., this one spans over 2,000 miles. Between the two programs, there are 24 National Championships and 15 Heisman trophies, which shows just how talented these two teams have been over the course of their history.
You could argue that no two teams have such sustained success and dominance in college football. They amount of stars that have played in these rivalry games is ridiculous, each team has field 13 future NFL Hall of Famers and have had a combined 184 All-Americans.
6: Michigan vs. Michigan State
Series record: Michigan leads 74-38-5
Name: Michigan-Michigan State game
Trophy: Paul Bunyan Trophy
The Wolverines have historically dominated this rivalry and are usually leaps and bounds better than their interstate rivals, which leads many people to keep this matchup off their list of top rivalries, but as I discussed earlier, this matchup has always been more competitive than the record suggests. Their 2015 “trouble with the snap” game is the stuff of legends, and over the last ten years, there have been at least three fights either before or after the game.
These two teams truly hate each other, and with all the fights and literal assaults that have occurred throughout the history of this rivalry, you could make the claim that this might be the “ugliest rivalry in college football”. It’s a title that would be fitting given that the Paul Bunyan Trophy has been called the “Ugliest Trophy in College Football,” which is saying something given that the trophy for the Minnesota-Nebraska game is a broken chair with two five-dollar bills stapled to the bottom.
5: USC vs. UCLA
Series record: USC leads 51-34-7
Name: UCLA-USC Game
Trophy: Victory Bell
The Battle of Los Angeles! It wasn’t until fairly recently that teams outside the Midwest and the South were taken seriously in college football, but this matchup really stands out as one of the best West Coast rivalries in college football. Although UCLA did dominate during the nineties, this is another rivalry series where one team (USC) tends to dominate most years but the underdog (UCLA) has a knack for winning big upsets and creating historic moments.
The Bruins and Trojans battle each year for the Victory Bell, an Iconic trophy that is then used by the individual team’s rally squads to celebrate touchdowns on the sidelines. The tradition of re-painting the carriage of the Bell the color of the team that wins and having it sit with them on the sidelines ringing each time they score a TD is really cool and adds a unique feature to this rivalry.
4: Alabama vs. Auburn
Series record: Alabama leads 51-37-1
Name: Iron Bowl
Trophy: Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy
I will never forget where I was when Chris Davis brought that missed field goal back for a game-winning touchdown for Auburn in 2013 and capped off what in my book might’ve been the greatest college football game ever played. This, along with “the Camback” three years earlier, and the 2019 game where Auburn won on a “too many players on the field” penalty by Alabama before a punt attempt by Auburn with a minute left, down by just three points.
This series features two of the most impressive programs ever assembled, with hundreds of NFL alumni and dozens of National Championships between the two. This matchup is one of the greatest in the country, but there is a reason why Alabama doesn’t have a lot of legendary rivals: they are too good! I wanted to put this rivalry in the top three, but when you look at recent games, it’s been an extremely lopsided affair with Alabama going 9-2 since 2014 in the series.
3: Texas vs. Oklahoma
Series record: Texas leads 64-51-5
Name: Red River Rivalry
Trophy: Golden Hat
Don’t ask somebody from Boston to pronounce this rivalry! This game is one of the most epic in college sports and earns its reputation as one of the best rivalries in sports. The alliterative name refers to the Red River, which separates much of Texas and Oklahoma. The game is played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, usually on the second Saturday of October. With 120 games played in its history and 88 coming after the AP started putting out their top 25 rankings, there have only been nine instances where neither team came into the game unranked!
Oklahoma has had the edge in the series lately, with a record of 17-9 since the year 2000. However, Texas has dominated the rivalry’s history, with a record of 55-34 during the 1900s. Overall, this is an iconic Southern rivalry that epitomizes what football is all about in the South.
2: Ohio State vs. Michigan
Series record: Michigan leads 62-51-6
Name: The Game
Trophy: none
There isn’t much more to say other than that this game is referred to as “the game.” It’s such an iconic and intense matchup that it doesn’t even need a trophy; the bragging rights are a big enough reward. These are two of the premier teams in college football, with Ohio State and Michigan representing the two most recent National Champions and being fifth and second, respectively, in most championships won by an FBS team (Michigan with 12 and Ohio State with 9).
This game is almost always a deciding factor in who plays in the Big 10 Championship. Seven of the last eight Big 10 championships have been won by one of these two teams. Before the East/West divisional set up in the Conference, Michigan and Ohio State played each other for the Big 10 championship 22 times. Between the two teams, they have produced 144 first-round picks in the NFL draft (Ohio State has the most of any team with 91, and Michigan has the seventh most with 53). This is truly the most talented rivalry series in college football, often with dozens of future NFL players on the field during each of their matchups.
1: Army vs. Navy
Series record: Navy leads 63-55-7
Name: Army-Navy Game
Trophy: Secretary’s Trophy
There was no doubt in my head which rivalry was number one on this list. It might not feature the same caliber of play as the Michigan-Ohio State game or the Red River Rivalry, but last I checked, those games don’t get its own week in college football dedicated to just that one game, and the schools aren’t representing soldiers that are risking their lives everyday who are scattered across every corner of the globe. This rivalry transcends both football and sports as a whole. The overall message to be taken from this legendary rivalry is that competition is a tool to achieve greatness.
The Army and Navy (outside of the realm of football) are not mortal enemies; in fact, they work together and are teammates to help keep the country safe, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive. The Military and the different branches within are known for their intense rivalries and competitiveness, it’s very common to hear an Army Veteran bad mouth a Marine or an Air Force pilot insult a Navy sailor, and they all talk down to the coast guard, but at the end of the day they are all part of the same Military. That competitiveness actually makes the Military better. Have you ever heard of iron sharpening iron? It’s the same concept, and it works both in real war and football; after all, the Army and Navy combined 22-5 last year.
