The 11 Longest-Running College Football Rivalries

One of the things that sets college football apart from the NFL is the sheer amount of history that defines a sport that can trace its origins to a showdown between Rutgers and Princeton all the way back in 1869. The two schools haven’t maintained a rivalry that once stretched more than a century, but there are plenty of other programs that have managed to do exactly that.

Week 14 of the college football season is commonly referred to as “Rivalry Week,” as teams that have a lengthy history tend to reserve that spot on the schedule for the latest installment in the series.

That includes many of the schools that boast the longest-running rivalries the sport has to offer.

For the purpose of this list, I’m only going to focus on FBS programs, although it’s worth noting Lehigh and Lafayette currently boast the most storied rivalry in college football thanks to 159 times they’ve met heading into the 2025 season (the Ivy League also boasts some similar lengthy ones thanks to Harvard-Yale, Princeton-Yale, and Cornell-Penn).

Without further ado…

Mississippi State-Ole Miss: 121 Games

Series Record: Ole Miss leads 66-46-6

We’re kicking things off with The Egg Bowl, which derives its name from the ovoid football that sits atop the trophy that was first presented in 1927.

The school that was still known as Mississippi A&M when the series began in 1901 had a decisive edge toward the start of the rivalry (it rattled off a series-high 13-game winning streak between 1911 and 1925).

Ole Miss took pretty firm control once that run was snapped, although there’s been a bit more parity since the turn of the millennium.

Clemson-South Carolina: 121 Games

Series Record: Clemson leads 73-44-4

Clemson and South Carolina had beef well before their college football rivalry became A Thing, as the two learning institutions spent decades battling for educational supremacy in the state they both call home thanks to the politics involving the former’s push to create an agricultural college to rival the latter’s in the wake of the Civil War.

The two schools got the chance to settle their feud on the gridiron for the first time in 1896, and prior to the pandemic, they had met in what became known as the Palmetto Bowl 111 years in a row stretching back to 1909.

Kansas-Kansas State: 122 Games

Series Record: Kansas leads 65-52-5*

The Sunflower Showdown began when Kansas and Kansas State played each other for the first time in 1902, and they have met every single year since 1913 while vying for the Governor’s Cup that is awarded to the squad that triumphs.

The Jayhawks have a commanding lead over the Wildcats, although the asterisk above stems from their showdown in 1980.

Kansas got a 20-18 victory that year with a player on the roster who was later deemed ineligible, and while the now-defunct Big 8 ordered the program to forfeit, it has declined to recognize the loss that Kansas State claims as a win.

Army-Navy: 125 Games

Series Record: Navy leads 63-55-7

The Army-Navy game features two teams that have never really established themselves as perennial powerhouses, but it’s still a pretty big deal thanks to the hallowed nature of the showdown between the two esteemed military academies.

The Black Knights and the Midshipmen faced off for the first time in West Point in 1890, and the rivalry (where the Secretary’s Trophy is up for grabs) peaked in the 1940s when a #1 Army team defeated a #2 Navy squad two years in a row starting in 1944.

Indiana-Purdue: 126 Games

Series Record: Purdue leads 77-43-6

Purdue and Indiana met for the first time in 1891, and it’s been 100 years since the two schools started playing for the Old Oaken Bucket that was introduced as the official rivalry trophy in 1925.

It does seem like the Hoosiers have a good chance to put a dent in their deficit to the Boilermakers in the coming years based on the current state of both programs, but the guys in red and white still have a lot of work to do on that front.

Oregon-Oregon State: 128 Games

Series Record: Oregon leads 69-49-10

The historic series between Oregon and Oregon State is responsible for what is easily the most ingenious rivalry trophy in college football thanks to the platypus that’s perched atop the piece of hardware that was first presented in 1959 (if you somehow don’t get it, the animal is basically the combination of a beaver and a duck).

However, the two schools were facing off long before that, as the teams played for the first time in 1894. Oregon State (which was Oregon Agricultural when the rivalry began) had a good run between 1925 and 1975, but it’s sandwiched by a couple of eras where Oregon has had the edge.

Cincinnati-Miami (OH): 128 Games

Series Record: Cincinnati leads 61-60-7

The first intrastate battle between Cincinnati and Miami transpired in 1888, and the battle for the Victory Bell is the longest-running rivalry between two teams that haven’t shared a conference for the bulk of their existence.

You may be surprised to see the series is as close as it is based on the reputation both programs currently have, although Miami actually had the edge before the Bearcats transformed into the force that’s won 18 of their past 19 meetings since 2006.

North Carolina-Virginia: 129 Games

Series Record: UNC leads 66-59-4

“The South’s Oldest Rivalry” comes courtesy of UNC and UVA, who kicked it off when they met for the first time in 1892.

It’s also a battle between two of the oldest public universities in the country and one where the Tar Heels have somewhat recently managed to pull out to the fairly narrow lead they have compared to some of the other rivalries on this list.

Auburn-Georgia: 129 Games

Series Record: Georgia leads 65-56-8

Auburn may view Alabama as its primary rival, but there have only been 89 iterations of the Iron Bowl compared to the nearly 130 meetings that comprise the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

The Tigers and the Bulldogs can trace that feud back to 1892, and while Auburn entered the 21st century with the lead in the series, the tables have been turned thanks to a run that’s seen Georgia win 19 of the 26 contests they’ve played against each other since 2000.

Cal-Stanford: 131 Games

Series Record: Stanford leads 65-51-11

Herbert Hoover (yes, that Herbert Hoover) was partially responsible for organizing the first edition of what is known as The Big Game as the student manager who helped arrange the first meeting between Cal and Stanford in 1892.

The two teams play for the  Stanford Axe that can trace its origins back to the end of the 19th century, and there isn’t a single game that stands out more than the meeting in 1982 that ended with “The Play” that spawned the iconic “THE BAND IS OUT ON THE FIELD!” call and let to an unsuspecting Stanford trombonist getting pancaked by the Cal player who scored the winning touchdown.

Minnesota-Wisconsin: 134 Games

Series Record: Tied at 63-63-8

No FBS teams have met as frequently as Minnesota and Wisconsin, who faced off for the first time in Minneapolis in 1890 (the Golden Gophers got a resounding 63-0 win).

1906 marks the only year the two schools haven’t faced off since then, and as you can see by the record, the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe (the trophy first handed out in 1948) is about as even as a college football rivalry can get.