Closest College Football Rivalries of All Time

Long series where neither side has pulled away: the closest to a 50-50 record. Each team appears once. Closest of all: Richmond Spiders and William & Mary Tribe, 40-40-2 after 82 meetings.

Team

#	Series	Record	Win %	Games
1	Richmond Spiders vs William & Mary Tribe82 games	40-40-2	50.0%	82
2	Ball State Cardinals vs Northern Illinois Huskies49 games	24-24-1	50.0%	49
3	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs Virginia Cavaliers45 games	22-22-1	50.0%	45
4	Virginia Tech Hokies vs Washington & Lee45 games	20-20-5	50.0%	45
5	San José State Spartans vs Utah State Aggies43 games	21-21-1	50.0%	43
6	Wisconsin Badgers vs Minnesota Golden Gophers133 games	63-62-8	50.4%	133
7	Purdue Boilermakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini101 games	48-47-6	50.5%	101
8	Dartmouth Big Green vs Pennsylvania Quakers73 games	36-35-2	50.7%	73
9	LSU Tigers vs Florida Gators72 games	35-34-3	50.7%	72
10	South Carolina Gamecocks vs NC State Wolfpack55 games	26-25-4	50.9%	55
11	Texas Tech Red Raiders vs Oklahoma State Cowboys52 games	25-24-3	51.0%	52
12	Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Kentucky Wildcats51 games	26-25	51.0%	51
13	Holy Cross Crusaders vs Brown Bears49 games	24-23-2	51.0%	49
14	Louisville Cardinals vs Cincinnati Bearcats46 games	23-22-1	51.1%	46
15	Arizona State Sun Devils vs Arizona Wildcats89 games	45-43-1	51.1%	89
16	Princeton Tigers vs Colgate Raiders44 games	22-21-1	51.1%	44
17	Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors vs Fresno State Bulldogs40 games	20-19-1	51.2%	40
18	Arkansas Razorbacks vs Baylor Bears70 games	35-33-2	51.4%	70
19	Washington Huskies vs Stanford Cardinal93 games	46-43-4	51.6%	93
20	Oregon Ducks vs California Golden Bears82 games	42-39-1	51.8%	82
21	Lehigh Mountain Hawks vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights50 games	26-24	52.0%	50
22	Colorado College vs Denver Pioneers49 games	25-23-1	52.0%	49
23	Iowa State Cyclones vs Kansas State Wildcats109 games	55-50-4	52.3%	109
24	Auburn Tigers vs Vanderbilt Commodores43 games	22-20-1	52.3%	43
25	Air Force Falcons vs Wyoming Cowboys64 games	32-29-3	52.3%	64
26	Toledo Rockets vs Bowling Green State Falcons64 games	33-30-1	52.3%	64
27	Miami RedHawks vs Ohio Bobcats64 games	33-30-1	52.3%	64
28	The Citadel Bulldogs vs Wofford Terriers57 games	30-27	52.6%	57
29	Utah Utes vs Colorado Buffaloes73 games	37-33-3	52.7%	73
30	Iowa Hawkeyes vs Michigan State Spartans51 games	26-23-2	52.9%	51
31	Navy Midshipmen vs Army Black Knights125 games	63-55-7	53.2%	125
32	Central Michigan Chippewas vs Western Michigan Broncos61 games	32-28-1	53.3%	61
33	Miami Hurricanes vs Florida State Seminoles71 games	38-33	53.5%	71
34	Missouri Tigers vs Kansas Jayhawks112 games	56-48-8	53.6%	112
35	North Carolina Tar Heels vs Maryland Terrapins70 games	37-32-1	53.6%	70
36	Michigan Wolverines vs Ohio State Buckeyes121 games	62-53-6	53.7%	121
37	TCU Horned Frogs vs Rice Owls79 games	41-35-3	53.8%	79
38	Texas Longhorns vs Oklahoma Sooners119 games	62-52-5	54.2%	119
39	Yale Bulldogs vs Harvard Crimson121 games	62-51-8	54.5%	121
40	Penn State Nittany Lions vs Pittsburgh Panthers99 games	52-43-4	54.5%	99
41	New Mexico Lobos vs UTEP Miners71 games	38-31-2	54.9%	71
42	Washington State Cougars vs Oregon State Beavers104 games	56-45-3	55.3%	104
43	Syracuse Orange vs West Virginia Mountaineers61 games	34-27	55.7%	61
44	Northwestern Wildcats vs Indiana Hoosiers85 games	47-37-1	55.9%	85
45	Akron Zips vs Kent State Golden Flashes47 games	26-20-1	56.4%	47
46	Houston Cougars vs Tulsa Golden Hurricane46 games	26-20	56.5%	46
47	Georgia Bulldogs vs Tennessee Volunteers54 games	30-22-2	57.4%	54
48	Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs USC Trojans96 games	53-38-5	57.8%	96
49	Cornell Big Red vs Columbia Lions92 games	53-36-3	59.2%	92
50	BYU Cougars vs Colorado State Rams70 games	40-27-3	59.3%	70
51	Memphis Tigers vs Tulane Green Wave43 games	25-17-1	59.3%	43
52	Nevada Wolf Pack vs UNLV Rebels42 games	25-17	59.5%	42
53	Duke Blue Devils vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons102 games	60-40-2	59.8%	102
54	Texas A&M Aggies vs SMU Mustangs81 games	45-29-7	59.9%	81
55	Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns vs UL Monroe Warhawks41 games	25-16	61.0%	41
56	Idaho Vandals vs Montana Grizzlies62 games	39-22-1	63.7%	62
57	Boston College Eagles vs Villanova Wildcats41 games	27-14	65.9%	41
58	Furman Paladins vs Davidson Wildcats48 games	33-15	68.8%	48
59	Lafayette Leopards vs Bucknell Bison44 games	29-12-3	69.3%	44
60	Drake Bulldogs vs Grinnell50 games	35-13-2	72.0%	50
61	Alabama Crimson Tide vs Ole Miss Rebels67 games	56-9-2	85.1%	67
62	Clemson Tigers vs Presbyterian40 games	33-3-4	87.5%	40

How this list works

Series with at least 50 meetings (40 in college football), ranked by how close the record is to .500 (a tie counts as half a win). Each team appears in only one row, its closest series.

Each row links to the full matchup page, opened on the College Football numbers. Think you know who leads a series? Try the College Football rivalry quiz.

More College Football records

Sources

Records are computed from every final game result in the Matchup Index database. About the data.

College football results follow Sports Reference coverage, which omits some early games against non-major opponents.