# List of NCAA college football rivalry games
A list of NCAA college football rivalry games catalogs the recurring matchups between member institutions that are recognized by both schools as traditional rivals, most of them marked by a named trophy, a rivalry title such as "The Game" or the "Iron Bowl", or a long uninterrupted series. The most-played FBS rivalries exceed a century of meetings, and their all-time records are tracked in NCAA records books and independent databases, with frequent small discrepancies between sources.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Most-played series | Minnesota vs. Wisconsin: 134 recorded meetings from 1890 to 2024, for Paul Bunyan's Axe[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries) |
| Series tally | The 2025 edition was the 135th Gophers-Badgers game, with the series even at 63 wins each plus eight ties; the axe has been awarded annually since 1948[2](https://apnews.com/article/0af1f95f14b0336c900822cb2e59b8a5) |
| Next tier | Auburn vs. Georgia ("Deep South's Oldest Rivalry") and North Carolina vs. Virginia ("South's Oldest Rivalry") each have 130 meetings[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries) |
| Oldest trophy | The NCAA has certified the Territorial Cup, played for by Arizona and Arizona State, as the oldest rivalry trophy, first awarded after their 1899 meeting[2](https://apnews.com/article/0af1f95f14b0336c900822cb2e59b8a5) |
| Oldest rivalry | Yale-Princeton is described as the oldest rivalry in college football history[3](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/oldest-college-football-rivalries) |
| Disputed record | BYU and Utah have met 101 times, but BYU recognizes only 95 games, counting officially from its intercollegiate program's start in 1922[4](https://apnews.com/article/9590aa562fcc936e8bdeca8f4e69f90a) |
| Largest FCS game | The Florida Classic (FAMU vs. Bethune-Cookman) is the nation's largest HBCU football game, with a record attendance of 73,358 in Orlando in 2003[5](https://floridaclassic.org/about/) |
## Most-played series
Among teams now in the FBS, the Minnesota-Wisconsin series tops the meeting counts. Behind it, CFBTrack lists Auburn-Georgia and North Carolina-Virginia at 130 games, Oregon-Oregon State at 129, Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio) at 128, and California-Stanford's Big Game at 127[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries). The Army-Navy Game has been played 125 times since 1890[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries), and the series between the two service academies is routinely described as among the most meaningful rivalries in American sports even though no [College Football Playoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/college-football-playoff) bid or NFL Draft stock rides on it[6](https://bcsfootball.org/army-navy-vs-college-footballs-biggest-rivalries-2026/).
Series records also carry quality distinctions, not just totals. Tennessee leads Kentucky 84-25-9 since 1906, a 75.0% winning share that is the widest margin among the 20 most-played FBS rivalries per Chartly's tabulation[7](https://chart.ly/charts/college-football-rivalry-leaders). At the other end of competitiveness, some long series have been heavily one-sided, which ranking compilations generally try to separate from genuine rivalries by excluding lopsided records against opponents rarely played[8](https://fueledbysports.com/most-one-sided-college-football-series/).
## Trophies and traditions
Many rivalry games are punctuated by a traveling trophy. The Little Brown Jug, contested by Michigan and Minnesota, dates to their 1903 game, when Michigan coach Fielding Yost had a student manager buy a jug for the team's water and it was left behind amid a Minnesota field storming after a tie; Minnesota formally returned it after Michigan won the next meeting in 1909[2](https://apnews.com/article/0af1f95f14b0336c900822cb2e59b8a5). The Territorial Cup, played for by Arizona and Arizona State in the "Duel in the Desert", is the oldest certified rivalry trophy, first awarded in 1899[2](https://apnews.com/article/0af1f95f14b0336c900822cb2e59b8a5). The Fremont Cannon, contested by Nevada and UNLV since 1970, was donated by the Nevada Mines Division of the Kennecott Copper Corporation as a nod to the state's mining history and was once fired after every score[9](https://bcsfootball.org/little-brown-jug-college-football-rivalry-trophies/).
Well-known rivalry names include [The Game](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-game) (Michigan vs. Ohio State, with Michigan leading 62-52-6 after Ohio State's 2010 win was vacated)[10](https://www.espn.co.uk/college-football/story/_/id/40908516/college-football-rivalries-know-history-stats-more), the Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma vs. Texas, 121 meetings)[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries), the [Iron Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/iron-bowl) (Alabama vs. Auburn, 89 meetings)[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries), the [Egg Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/egg-bowl) (Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss, 121 meetings)[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries), and the Sunflower Showdown (Kansas vs. Kansas State, 123 meetings)[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries).
## Renewed and revived rivalries
Conference realignment can both kill and revive matchups. When Texas A&M left for the SEC in 2012, its annual Thanksgiving-time game against Texas lapsed; Texas joined the SEC in 2024, and the two met again in College Station that November, the first meeting since the Longhorns' 27-25 win in 2011. Texas leads the all-time series 76-37-5[11](https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/11/26/texas-am-college-football-rivalry). The same realignment wave brought BYU and Utah's "Holy War" into the Big 12 together[4](https://apnews.com/article/9590aa562fcc936e8bdeca8f4e69f90a), and brought back the Lone Star game, described as one of the wildest rivalries in college football[12](https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/college-football-realignment-rivalry-games).
The reverse also occurs: as conferences expand, long-running series end because the teams land in different leagues and in-conference scheduling becomes harder, a dynamic Axios described in 2023 as rivalries being the biggest loser in the realignment race[12](https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/college-football-realignment-rivalry-games). CFBTrack's database labels many storied series "Inactive" for this reason, including Oklahoma-Oklahoma State's Bedlam Series (118 meetings, last played 2023), Baylor-Texas (113, through 2023), and Kansas-Nebraska (117, through 2010)[1](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries).
## Record-keeping disputes
All-time records for the same rivalry can differ by source. Nebraska and Iowa State historically disagree on the result of one early game[8](https://fueledbysports.com/most-one-sided-college-football-series/). Kansas and Missouri diverge on one game as well: Kansas and the NCAA record it as a win, while Missouri records it as a forfeit[13](https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/college-football/oldest-rivalry-games-college-football/). NCAA vacations and forfeits cause official records to differ depending on which school's record book is used[8](https://fueledbysports.com/most-one-sided-college-football-series/).
The Arizona Territorial Cup series illustrates the same effect: the current tally is 51-46-1 in Arizona's favor[14](https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2025/07/09/sun-devils-wildcats-arizona-top-100-college-football-rivalries). Counts also drift as series resume: the 2024 Texas-A&M renewal moved the Longhorns' lead to 76-37-5 in some tabulations[11](https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/11/26/texas-am-college-football-rivalry), and sources such as CFBTrack, the NCAA records PDFs, and school media guides may each show different totals for the same matchup.
## Beyond the FBS and the field
Rivalry games extend into the FCS and to historically black colleges and universities. The Florida Blue Florida Classic between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman, played since 1925 and staged in Tampa from 1978 before moving to Orlando in 1997, is the nation's largest annual HBCU football game, surpassing the Bayou Classic as the top-attended game in the [NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision](https://www.edgepedia.org/ncaa-division-i-football-championship-subdivision); more than 2 million spectators have attended since 1978, and the game brings [Central Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-florida) an economic impact of up to $30 million per year[5](https://floridaclassic.org/about/).
Lehigh and Lafayette's series, played in the [Patriot League](https://www.edgepedia.org/patriot-league) of the FCS, is one of the sport's oldest continuous traditions, and Lehigh holds a heavily lopsided 34-2 edge in years of the series[9](https://bcsfootball.org/little-brown-jug-college-football-rivalry-trophies/).
## References
1. [College Football Rivalries Explorer, CFBTrack](https://cfbtrack.com/rivalries)
2. [What do an axe, a bucket and a cannon have in common? Meet the rivalry trophies of college football, AP](https://apnews.com/article/0af1f95f14b0336c900822cb2e59b8a5)
3. [10 Oldest College Football Rivalries, FOX Sports](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/oldest-college-football-rivalries)
4. [Potential new rivalries in Big 12 with BYU becoming league's 3rd private Christian school, AP](https://apnews.com/article/9590aa562fcc936e8bdeca8f4e69f90a)
5. [About | Florida Blue Florida Classic - FAMU vs. B-CU](https://floridaclassic.org/about/)
6. [Army-Navy vs. College Football's Biggest Rivalries in 2026, BCSFootball.org](https://bcsfootball.org/army-navy-vs-college-footballs-biggest-rivalries-2026/)
7. [Who leads college football's most-played rivalries?, Chartly](https://chart.ly/charts/college-football-rivalry-leaders)
8. [Most One-Sided College Football Series of All Time, Fueled by Sports](https://fueledbysports.com/most-one-sided-college-football-series/)
9. [Little Brown Jug Trophy and 14 College Football Rivalries, BCSFootball.org](https://bcsfootball.org/little-brown-jug-college-football-rivalry-trophies/)
10. [College football rivalry stats: USC-UCLA, Alabama-Auburn, more, ESPN](https://www.espn.co.uk/college-football/story/_/id/40908516/college-football-rivalries-know-history-stats-more)
11. [The Longhorns face the Aggies in a rivalry renewal, Axios Austin](https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/11/26/texas-am-college-football-rivalry)
12. [College football rivalries are the biggest loser in realignment race, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/college-football-realignment-rivalry-games)
13. [Longest-running rivalries in college football, Saturday Down South](https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/college-football/oldest-rivalry-games-college-football/)
14. [Territorial Cup is 54th on top 100 college football rivalries, Axios Phoenix](https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2025/07/09/sun-devils-wildcats-arizona-top-100-college-football-rivalries)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Education and knowledge institutions › Higher education › College athletics and university sport › Bowls, championships, and rivalries*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license