Posted on 11/25/2009 6:11:57 PM PST by bobjam
Ten Rivalries to Witness
College football passion covers the width and breadth of the many social, economic, racial, regional and religious subcultures in America. From Boston Brahmins (Harvard) to Hollywood fashion (USC), from Southern tradition (Alabama) to California progressives (Stanford), from Catholics (Notre Dame) to Mormons (BYU) to hippies (Cal), everyone has a team to cheer for. Below are 10 games that highlight that spectrum of passion, pageantry and pride (listed in approximate order of occurance during the season):
Texas vs Oklahoma: The Longhorns, the Sooners and the Texas State Fair recall how so much of our culture is derived from agricultural society.
Florida vs Georgia: Football should be celebrated, and nowhere is it celebrated more than at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville.
Michigan vs Ohio State: two industrial belt universities fight it out- just like their state militias once did.
Notre Dame vs BYU: this game is not played every year, but it is not infrequent. No universities mix religion and football more than these two.
Harvard vs Yale: Tailgating with wine, cheese, gin, caviar and all of the trappings of northeastern high society.
California vs Stanford: Tree huggers, hippies, techno geeks, peaceniks- even they love football. And who can forget Cal’s famous kickoff return against both Stanford and its band?
USC vs UCLA: The home of a famous film school and the alma mater of George Lucas vs everyone else in southern California.
Southern vs Grambling: The football teams work just as hard as any other; the marching bands work harder. Bands are as much a part of college football as cheerleaders and boosters, and these two universities have two of the best.
Alabama vs Auburn: beneath the polite society, manners, hospitality and accents lurks a hatred that divides a state more than any Jim Crow law ever could.
Army vs Navy: Not just Cadets vs Midshipmen, but anyone even remotely associated with the Army vs anyone even remotely associated with the Navy- officers, enlisted, civil service, relative in the service, or even people who simply live near a base.
These games are not necessarily the ten biggest, oldest, most passionate or most important rivalries in America. They are, however, an attempt to cover the grandeur and glory of an institution that brings so many different groups together in one passion.
Excellent game so far. One of the best that I can remember.
Hook ‘em!!!!!
Classic UT/A&M game! One for the history books!
Agreed! A&M had been showing some real development over the past 3 weeks. And playing at Kyle is always a tough gig. Plus they had the emotional factor of the bonfire collapse anniversary.
Nebraska will be watching this film, that’s for sure.
Go Auburn!!!!! Go ‘Noles!!!!!
I was at that game. The “Game of the Century II”. Number 1 vs Number 2. Nothing like NU-OU in those days, nothing.
I went and watched OU’s warmup practice on Friday afternoon. Very cool experience. Standing in the endzone with a guy I knew (friend of a friend) who played for the Huskers but was injured and on crutches, Doug Dubose. After the practice broke, up walks Brian Bosworth. He shook Doug’s hand and said that he wished he was playing tommorow. He said in an article that the hardest hit he ever took in college football was from Doug the year before in Norman. Boz was the biggest name in college football at that time so that was a pretty cool experience standing right next to the guy. He had the big “44” earring and the colored hair going so I was pretty “fame-struck”. I would like to repeat what Doug said after Bosworth walked off but I will keep that to myself.
Unfortunately this annual game that was one of the greatest rivalries in college football was hosed by the stupid Big 12.
Just think about it, if only we still had the Southwest Conference, Texas and TCU would have played each other.
Why did Kansas State put down Astro Turf?
To keep the cheerleaders from eating the grass.
Why do all the trees in Kansas lean south?
Cuz Oklahoma sucks.
That is an interesting point and that would be a hell of a game.
I am hoping that my ‘skers can pull of the big upset next week in Dallas. Not expecting, but hoping, mind you. Texas cost NU the chance to play for a third consecutive national championship in the first Big 12 Championship game in 1996. That inflamed my hatred of the Longhorns and it has only grown over the years. It would be very sweet if the favor could be returned 13 years later. I always cheer for Oklahoma as long as they aren’t playing Nebraska. If Texas loses,however, it puts a big smile on my face.
What does an Oklahoma State student get on his SATs?
Drool.
Just think about it ... if FSU beats Florida and Auburn beats Alabama... Texas and TCU would possibly play for the BCS title if they win out.
Yeah, those are big "ifs" but a Texan can dream, can't he?
Why does the St Johns River flow north? Because Georgia sucks.
What does a Miami football player in a coat and tie say? “Not guilty your honor.”
“I’ve never heard of this rivalry perhaps it was one in the past. At present they think their rivals are Michigan and USC, at least that’s the story from the Domers I know.”
Notre Dame’s games against Michigan and USC are pretty big, however Michigan’s and USC’s rivalries against Ohio State and UCLA, respectively, are bigger than their games against ND. I purposely avoided counting any one team twice, and I wanted to capture the religious fervor that defines some fan bases; hence, ND vs BYU.
“Well, you probably know the old proverbs: Oklahoma: Best Texans money can buy.”
I’ve found the best response to that is: “Yes, isn’t a shame that the best athletes in Texas have to go to Oklahoma to get a good college eduction.”
My favorite Texas joke.
You may not be aware of this but the orignal plan was to have the birth of Jesus happen in Texas. Unfortunately, all the angels in heaven were unable to locate a virgin or three wise men in the entire state of Texas.
I’m not sure the OU/OSU game really qualifies as a great rivalry. While it is true that the series has evened somewhat in the last few years. Still, OU leads the series something like 75-15 over the last hundred years. A game should have more balance to qualify as a great rivalry.
BTW, that’s from an OU perspective. Most OSU fans would consider the game to be their greatest rivalry. OU would probably rank Texas, Nebraska, and Notre Dame above OSU.
“BTW Both Militias got lost in a swamp and never fired at each other.”
But a hog got shot and killed. Possibly the origins of Detroit bar-b-que ribs.
When I was a teen, growing up in Michigan, some friends and I designed a Toledo War board wargame. (No computers back then.) The fun part was getting the two militias in contact, since they kept getting lost(as you noted) most of the time they were moved at random, by die roll. Yes, the game was more of a joke than anything else, but it was a hoot to play.
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