Interesting thought I had about OSU vs Michigan being the biggest. A lot of people who didn’t go to either school still lived in Ohio or Michigan for part of their lives and kinda grew up with the rivalry, even people like who got a shock two weeks before high school began that the family was moving to Florida.
Also, both OSU and Michigan are huge schools so if you’ve got Midwestern roots, it’s likely someone in your family went to either school.
Having had some up close and personal experience with both the Alabama/Auburn and Michigan/OSU rivalries I think they’re both about the same level of intensity. The biggest difference is that in AL people have a choice, if they didn’t go to either school they must decide which one they support (although it’s probably decided by your family long before you get to decide). In Michigan/Ohio your place of birth decides that.
It seems to me that having to share a state, instead of owning your own state, tips the intensity edge to the Iron Bowl. I could be wrong. But a typical Auburn fan has to deal with Bama fans all the time, every day, and somewhat vice versa. Michigan and Ohio State fans can go forever without much interaction other than if they attend the same game.
I would agree with this. Here in Big 12 country, Oklahoma/Texas is a huge rivalry, but it isn’t as big as Oklahoma/Oklahoma State. This is properly described as ‘bedlam’.
Of course, it carries over to basketball as well, which adds to the intensity. This was also true of Kansas/Missouri, where the basketball competition was always fiercer than football.
That game seems like an annual event watched by people with no connection to either team or even to the military. It’s the first college football rivalry I was ever aware of as a kid. I’d argue that it’s the one with the biggest reputation.
I’m from the pacific northwest and I remember the Michigan Ohio State game on tv when I was young in the early 70’s. It was a big deal then and that has kind of stuck with me.
It was the only big rivalry that I can remember being mentioned when I was young.
But does it? Ann Arbor and Columbus are two very different cities. Some people from Ohio may like the college town feel of Ann Arbor while some in Michigan might like the bigger city feel and potentially more internship and entertainment options that don’t revolve around college that you’d find in Columbus.
Probably because from something like 1968 to 1980 the only game that ever really seemed to matter in that conference in terms of which team would represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl was that game. But that hasn’t been the case for a LOOONG time, now.
when I was a kid my family watched the military games because i have members in every branch and any Michigan team vs Notre dame … i have family in michigan and a lot of family in south bend also michigan vs michigan state
so yeah those were known as “fistfight games” in my family …cause people would get drunk and start a half-assed fight before falling over and passing out …
These statements are contradictory.
And to answer the OP it sure ain’t Nebraska-Oklahoma anymore.
To this day, a couple where one was from Ohio St and one was from Michigan is the only rivalry-marriage I’ve ever heard of called “a mixed marriage”.
Well then you don’t get out much. I’ve heard that term* used for:
Auburn/Alabama
Georgia/Florida
Florida/Florida State
Miami/Florida State
Georgia/Georgia Tech (not so much lately)
Clemson/South Carolina
Ole Miss/Miss State
Tennessee/Alabama
Tennessee/Florida
Auburn/Georgia…
You get the idea…
And that’s just in one corner of the south.
*Also known as a “house-divided”.
Yeah, now you’ve brought back awful flashbacks of the ESPN commercials showing a guy and gir seriously making out, each one wearing a sweatshirt of two rival schools.
The Wolverines play in Ann Arbor. The Spartans play in East Lansing, not Lansing.
I’m a Big Ten fan, the ones that count are:
Michigan-Ohio State
Michigan-Michigan State
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Illinois-Northwestern
Indiana-Purdue
Michigan-Ohio State is the biggest. You can crow about Alabama-Auburn, but both Ohio and Michigan are much larger than Alabama and both Big Ten schools dwarf the SEC schools in size and alumni base.
Gotta give a shout out to Western Michigan-Central Michigan as well, just because my daughter and a lot of my money went to WMU.
Others of note are USC-UCLA, Oklahoma-Texas, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Clemson-South Carolina.
Texas/Texas A&M used to be that way (and a BIG rivalry), until A&M bolted for the SEC and gave UT the finger in the process.
As someone who grew up on SC, I never understood how an out-of-state rivalry could be as intense as and in-state one.
For the Clemson-South Carolina game, one of the reasons emotions are so intense is that you interact with people from the other side all of the time. They are in your family and work place. When your side wins, you get to gloat. When their side wins, you will have to be near those insufferable ass-hats for the next 12 months. This makes the desire to win much more intense.
If you lose in a game like Ohio-Michigan, almost everyone around you is on the same team and they commiserate with you. Totally different experience.
Depends on how you’re considering a big rivalry. USC/Clemson is huge in SC (I have family there) but outside of SC, it’s isn’t too big. Michigan/OSU is big nationwide, both are huge schools with a huge nationwide alumni base. And, as I mentioned earlier, both Ohio and Michigan are bleeding people to other states. So, even if you didn’t go to school at either, you’re likely to turn on ‘The Game’ even if you’re just a casual fan of college football.
I joke that my husband and I are a mixed marriage, but no one’s mentioned either of the schools involved, because they are tiny schools.
But the Rivalry (yes, it’s capitalized) is the most played college football rivalry, beating even Havard-Yale and it’s in Pennsylvana(link) .
Not as well known, and there’s not so many people involved, but it’s got history on its side.
I don’t have a cite, but a while back 538 did a study to try to identify the largest college football fan bases. The top three, all very close to each other and far ahead of #4, were Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. The rest of the top ten were six SEC schools and Notre Dame. PSU doesn’t have the longstanding rivalries with the other two that they have with each other.
So, yeah, I think in terms of the number of people who care passionately about the outcome of the game, Michigan-OSU is the biggest game in college football. People in Alabama may go crazy about the Iron Bowl, but there just aren’t that many people in Alabama.
Of course, objectively speaking, the most important and crucial rivalry in college football is Oregon-Oregon State, closely followed by Oregon-Washington.