SPORTS

ESPN Names The Most Heated College Football Rivalry

November 22nd, 2022

Welcome to Rivalry Week.

The best week of the college football season is here. Some of the biggest, most important rivalry games of the year are set to take place this weekend.

But which college football rivalry game is the most heated?

ESPN has named the components of the "perfect" college football rivalry game. Their pick for the rivalry game with the most "bad blood" might surprise you.

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It's Florida vs. Florida State.

"While the animosity between the schools reached its greatest heights in the Bowden-Spurrier years, the bad blood extends to 1947, when Florida State went from being an all-girls school to co-ed and shortly thereafter decided to play collegiate athletics. As the flagship public university in the state, Florida was less than thrilled and refused to play Florida State. The animosity grew so heated Florida governor LeRoy Collins had to broker a deal to get the schools to begin playing each other. Their first game was in 1958, and they have played every year since except 2020 (due to the pandemic)," ESPN writes.

Ohio State-Michigan and Alabama-Auburn fans might disagree with the pick, but it's tough to argue.

What would you pick as college football's most heated rivalry?

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

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