BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

For years, I keep asking myself, why do I waste my time paying attention to college football since this is the only major sport that doesn’t have a playoff system to decide a national championship?

The NCAA will always attempt to justify that it doesn’t want disrupt its bowl system which is fun to watch during the holiday season, in addition to the fact that NFL scouts earn their money trying to find talent. Yet, the lower divisions do have a playoff system to determine their champion.

If the NCAA had any sense, it would keep its bowl system intact and just take the top four teams in the country and go with a 1-4, 2-3 format and add one extra game to decide its champion. To determine this champion by the opinion of writers and computers is absurd.

But since that doesn’t figure to happen anytime soon, aside from my association with the FAU Owls, there is one other reason that I enjoy watching college football.

My colleague Rebecca Williamson and I debated some of the most intriguing rivalries in college football. If there is one thing good about all sports is fans and the media can appreciate a good rivalry. The TV Networks enjoy broadcasting the games because it attracts great ratings.

Here is a list of the top 30 broken down into two classifications. There are the national and in state match-ups. I encourage any reader and fan to e-mail me to provide their feedback.

The Best National Rivalries include:

1.  

   1. Michigan Vs Ohio State.

   2. Michigan Vs Notre Dame.

   3. Texas Vs Oklahoma

   4. Florida Vs Georgia

   5. Army Vs Navy

   6. Oklahoma Vs Nebraska

   7. Tennessee Vs UCLA

   8. Tennessee Vs Florida

   9. Michigan Vs Penn State

   10. LSU Vs Alabama

   11. Ohio State Vs Alabama

   12. Notre Dame Vs USC

   13. USC Vs Michigan

   14. Miami Vs Notre Dame

   15. Florida Vs LSU

The Best Instate Rivalries include:

1.  

   1. Florida Vs Florida State

   2. Auburn Vs Alabama

   3. Florida State Vs Miami

   4. Michigan Vs Michigan State

   5. USC Vs UCLA

   6. Georgia Vs Georgia Tech

   7. Texas Vs Texas A&M

   8. California Vs Stanford

   9. Clemson Vs South Carolina

   10. Louisville Vs Kentucky

   11. Oklahoma Vs Oklahoma State

   12. Arizona Vs Arizona State

   13. Penn State Vs Pittsburgh

   14. Virginia Vs Virginia Tech

   15. North Carolina Vs NC State

 

It will be interesting to see what new rivalries develop as newer college football traditions develop. Once FIU develops a competitive program, there meetings with FAU will be more meaningful. A couple years ago, a major brawl at the Orange Bowl between Miami and FIU gave both schools national publicity neither wanted as both teams recruit the same high schools thus developing the natural hatred amongst themselves.

My alma mater the University of South Florida (USF) has an I-4 rival against the University of Central Florida. Both schools are starting to send players to the NFL. Last season with the Bulls ranked No. 6 in the country, FAU lost an exciting 35-23 contest. Lockhart Stadium was a sellout. Fifty percent of the crowd was sporting the green and gold of USF while the other 50% was wearing the red, white and blue of FAU.

Look for FAU and Miami to meet down the road as Howard Schnellenberger faces the university that he led to national prominence by guiding the Hurricanes to a 1983 national championship.

Alabama-Birmingham has two great potential rivalries with Alabama and Auburn. I enjoyed watching Delaware and Delaware State face each other for the first time ever in last years Division 1A playoffs.

The newest addition to the Sun Belt Conference is Western Kentucky (WKU). The Hilltoppers face the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on Sept 27, in Lexington. This is the same WKU that made a good run in March’s NCAA Basketball tournament.

I haven’t found many quality football rivalries in the Northeast because that area is known for college basketball. Perhaps if the Big East wins a national championship, then by the next time I write a column like this, the list will change.

In the meantime, the biggest rivalry on the East Coast in any sport is the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox.

 

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbullm33@comcast.net.

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