College football’s ten biggest rivalry games on Saturday

Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines fight following their 2024 meeting that Michigan won 13-10. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The college football regular season concludes Saturday with a slate of rivalry games that puts other weekends to shame. Over 25 rivalries will be contested during the course of this weekend. Here are the ten biggest being played on Saturday, featuring some of the most important rivalries in the sport.

*All times Eastern

Ohio State at Michigan, Saturday noon

To understand why Michigan and Ohio State is considered by many to be the greatest rivalry in college football, you have to go back to 1969 when Bo Schembechler, in his first year as head coach of the Wolverines, upset No. 1 ranked Ohio State, coached by his mentor, Woody Hayes. The decade that followed is known as The Ten Year War, featuring some of the greatest games in college football history. From The Snow Bowl to Woody and Bo to Heisman poses, The Game has produced several of college football’s biggest moments. 

Clemson at South Carolina, Saturday noon

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has not had much to celebrate this season, but a win over rival South Carolina on Saturday will make the off-season much more palatable. | Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

A rivalry born in the post-Civil War years of Reconstruction, Clemson and South Carolina reserve their fiercest battles these days for the gridiron. For 111 straight seasons these two Palmetto State schools played each other until the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 meeting. The two schools have split the four games since then, although Clemson holds the overall series lead 73-44-4. Last year both schools had a shot at the playoffs. Although South Carolina won 17-14, Clemson snuck in by way of their ACC Championship win the following week.

Kentucky at Louisville, Saturday noon

These in-state rivals save their most intense battles for the basketball court, but their football rivalry actually started before the two programs met in hoops. That first game was in 1912, but Louisville did not record their first win in the series until over 80 years later due to a 70-year gap between football games. The football rivalry has its own trophy, known as the Governor’s Cup, that has been contested for the last 30 years, and Louisville actually owns a 16-13 lead in the series during that era.

Houston at Baylor, Saturday noon

Despite being located just 185 miles from each other, Baylor and Houston is a fairly young rivalry, especially compared to the others on this list. Baylor holds a slim 15-14-1 lead in the series, and the 2025 edition of this in-state rivalry is expected to be competitive again. The two schools did not play each other in football for the first time until 1950, and have only met 30 previous times. There was a nearly 30-year hiatus to the rivalry between 1995-2023, with the two schools splitting the last two meetings since reigniting the rivalry. 

Oregon at Washington, Saturday 3:30 pm

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore will have one more regular season chance to impress Heisman Trophy voters when his team takes on rival Washington. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Whether you call it the Cascade Clash or the Fight for the Forest, Oregon and Washington have met 118 times over the last 125 seasons, with many of those meetings having significant post-season implications. That will be the case again this year as Oregon looks to protect its No. 6 ranking in the College Football Playoff poll. The last time Oregon entered this game ranked sixth was in 2022, and Washington came away with a 37-34 win. The Huskies own a 63-49-5 series advantage, including three of the last four years.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee, Saturday 3:30 pm

In most years, Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee is barely noticed outside of the Volunteer State. This year, however, the rivalry features a pair of Top 20 schools fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff and only the winner of this game will earn that opportunity. Tennessee has dominated this series 79-32-5, but it was not always that way. Vanderbilt won 19 of the first 24 meetings starting in 1892, with three of those non-wins ending in ties. 

Florida State at Florida, Saturday 4:30 pm

Another young rivalry in comparison to most others being contested on Saturday, Florida and Florida State first met on the gridiron in 1958, but have played each other every year since, except for the COVID season of 2020. Similar to the Lone Star Showdown that took place on Friday, it took an act of government to make the Florida-Florida State football rivalry happen. Neither school was keen to schedule the other prior to 1958, but Florida’s governor at the time was persuasive and it resulted in one of the Southeast’s best rivalries. 

Virginia Tech at Virginia, Saturday 7:00 pm

Although natural in-state rivals, Virginia and Virginia Tech have not always had a rivalry worthy of a Thanksgiving Weekend date. Virginia has the South’s Oldest Rivalry with North Carolina, while the Virginia Tech-Virginia Military Institute rivalry was considered the Hokies’ most important for many years before the teams stopped playing each other in the 1980s. This year, the game features teams at different stages of program success, with Virginia Tech rebuilding under new head coach James Franklin and Virginia aiming for their highest season finish in at least the last 30 years.

Alabama at Auburn, Saturday 7:30 pm

Kick Six: Auburn's Chris Davis' 100-yard touchdown return to win the 2013 Iron Bowl is one of the all-time greatest rivalry plays in college football history. | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The Iron Bowl is what most every other college rivalry wishes it could be. The name originates from the fact that Birmingham, whose Legion Field has hosted the game more than any other venue, was the South’s leading iron producer in the early 20th century.. The first game in the series was played in 1893, but there was a 40-year hiatus until after World War II when the Auburn Board of Trustees formally demanded the athletic director negotiate with Alabama’s athletic director to conduct an annual game. That rivals the playoff system and introduction of the forward pass as one of the greatest decisions in college football history.

UCLA at USC, Saturday 7:30 pm

There are several in-state rivalries being played on Saturday, but this is the only true crosstown rivalry. UCLA and USC migrated to the Big Ten together, keeping their nearly 100-year same-conference affiliation intact. The annual matchup has been played on this date going back to World War II, when the teams squared off twice in a season on three occasions. The Victory Bell, which comes from an old locomotive and is given to the winner of the annual game, has changed hands each of the last four years.