List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I
This is a list of the most-played college football series in NCAA Division I. The Lehigh–Lafayette rivalry, known as "The Rivalry," is the most-played in Division I at 155 games. Lehigh and Lafayette are members of the Football Championship Subdivision. The most-played Football Bowl Subdivision series is the Minnesota–Wisconsin football rivalry, at 129 games. In some cases, during the early years of college football when distant travel was prohibitive, these teams played each other more than once per year.
Series listed here are not necessarily continuous series, and several of the series listed below were ended by the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment. It also includes several games that are not considered notable rivalries, but are between teams that, mainly due to conference alignment, have been played 100 or more times. Most of the games are in-conference match-ups. Nevertheless, conference affiliation is not necessarily an impediment to playing an annual game, and this list features match-ups of teams that have rarely or never shared an athletic conference.
This table is for listing all NCAA Division I football series with at least 100 games played. Wins and losses are given respective to the team leading the series.
Games
- Fully complete through December 15, 2019.
- V stands for vacated victories. NCAA rules call for the winning team to adjust its record to remove a win that is vacated, but does not award a win to the other team. This means that the win-loss-tie record doesn't add up to the total number of games played which is a key element of this list. Therefore, "V" column is used to make sure the total games adds up to the columns in the table. There should be a note included in the "V" column documenting the vacated game..
| Games | Series leader | Opponent | Rivalry or trophy name | Conference | W | L | T | V | First game | Last game | Notes | Source |
| 155 | Lafayette | Lehigh | The Rivalry | Patriot | 79 | 71 | 5 | 1884 | 2019 | |||
| 141 | Yale | Princeton | Princeton–Yale | Ivy | 78 | 53 | 10 | 1873 | 2019 | |||
| 136 | Yale | Harvard | The Game | Ivy | 68 | 60 | 8 | 1875 | 2019 | |||
| 130 | William & Mary | Richmond | Capital Cup | Colonial | 63 | 62 | 5 | 1898 | 2019 | |||
| 129 | Wisconsin | Minnesota | Paul Bunyan's Axe | Big Ten | 61 | 60 | 8 | 1890 | 2019 | |||
| 126 | Penn | Cornell | Trustees' Cup | Ivy | 75 | 46 | 5 | 1893 | 2019 | |||
| 124 | Georgia | Auburn | Deep South's Oldest Rivalry | SEC | 60 | 56 | 8 | 1892 | 2019 | |||
| 124 | North Carolina | Virginia | South's Oldest Rivalry | ACC | 63 | 57 | 4 | 1892 | 2019 | |||
| 124 | Miami | Cincinnati | Victory Bell | Non-conf. | 59 | 58 | 7 | 1888 | 2019 | |||
| 124 | Yale | Brown | Ivy | 84 | 35 | 5 | 1880 | 2019 | ||||
| 123 | Harvard | Dartmouth | Dartmouth–Harvard football rivalry | Ivy | 72 | 46 | 5 | 1882 | 2019 | |||
| 123 | Oregon | Oregon State | Civil War | Pac-12 | 66 | 47 | 10 | 1894 | 2019 | |||
| 122 | Purdue | Indiana | Old Oaken Bucket | Big Ten | 74 | 42 | 6 | 1891 | 2019 | |||
| 122 | Stanford | California | Big Game | Pac-12 | 64 | 47 | 11 | 1892 | 2019 | |||
| 120 | Missouri | Kansas | Border War | Non-conf. | 57 | 54 | 9 | 1891 | 2011 | |||
| 120 | Navy | Army | Army–Navy Game | Non-conf. | 61 | 52 | 7 | 1890 | 2019 | |||
| 119 | Montana | Montana State | Great Divide Trophy | Big Sky | 72 | 41 | 5 | 1 | 1897 | 2019 | ||
| 119 | Harvard | Brown | Ivy | 87 | 30 | 2 | 1893 | 2019 | ||||
| 118 | Texas | Texas A&M | Texas–Texas A&M football rivalry | Non-conf. | 76 | 37 | 5 | 1894 | 2011 | |||
| 117 | Clemson | South Carolina | Palmetto Bowl | Non-conf. | 71 | 42 | 4 | 1896 | 2019 | |||
| 117 | Kansas | Kansas State | Governor's Cup | Big 12 | 64 | 48 | 5 | 1902 | 2019 | |||
| 117 | Nebraska | Kansas | Kansas–Nebraska | Non-conf. | 91 | 23 | 3 | 1892 | 2010 | |||
| 116 | Michigan | Ohio State | The Game | Big Ten | 58 | 51 | 6 | 1 | 1897 | 2019 | ||
| 116 | Ole Miss | Mississippi State | Egg Bowl | SEC | 62 | 46 | 6 | 2 | 1901 | 2019 | ||
| 115 | Tennessee | Kentucky | Battle for the Barrel | SEC | 81 | 25 | 9 | 1893 | 2019 | |||
| 115 | Texas | Oklahoma | Golden Hat | Big 12 | 62 | 48 | 5 | 1900 | 2019 | |||
| 115 | TCU | Baylor | The Revivalry | Big 12 | 55 | 53 | 7 | 1899 | 2019 | |||
| 115 | South Dakota State | South Dakota | South Dakota Showdown Series | MVFC | 55 | 53 | 7 | 1889 | 2019 | |||
| 114 | Georgia | Georgia Tech | Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate | Non-conf. | 68 | 41 | 5 | 1893 | 2019 | |||
| 114 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | Bedlam Series | Big 12 | 89 | 18 | 7 | 1904 | 2019 | |||
| 114 | Tennessee | Vanderbilt | Tennessee–Vanderbilt football rivalry | SEC | 76 | 33 | 5 | 1892 | 2019 | |||
| 113 | LSU | Mississippi State | LSU–MSU football rivalry | SEC | 75 | 35 | 3 | 1896 | 2019 | |||
| 113 | Minnesota | Iowa | Floyd of Rosedale | Big Ten | 62 | 49 | 2 | 1891 | 2019 | |||
| 113 | North Carolina State | Wake Forest | NC State–Wake Forest rivalry | ACC | 66 | 41 | 6 | 1895 | 2019 | |||
| 113 | Illinois | Northwestern | Land of Lincoln Trophy | Big Ten | 55 | 53 | 5 | 1892 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | Washington | Washington State | Apple Cup | Pac-12 | 74 | 32 | 6 | 1900 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | Michigan | Michigan State | Paul Bunyan Trophy | Big Ten | 71 | 36 | 5 | 1898 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | Princeton | Harvard | Harvard–Princeton football rivalry | Ivy | 57 | 48 | 7 | 1877 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | North Dakota | North Dakota State | Nickel Trophy | Non-conf. | 62 | 47 | 3 | 1894 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | Washington | Oregon | Oregon–Washington football rivalry | Pac-12 | 60 | 47 | 5 | 1900 | 2019 | |||
| 112 | Utah | Utah State | Battle of the Brothers | Non-conf. | 79 | 29 | 4 | 1892 | 2015 | |||
| 111 | Colorado State | Wyoming | Bronze Boot | MW | 58 | 48 | 5 | 1899 | 2019 | |||
| 111 | Princeton | Penn | Penn–Princeton football rivalry | Ivy | 67 | 43 | 1 | 1876 | 2019 | |||
| 110 | New Mexico | New Mexico State | Battle of I-25 | Non-conf. | 72 | 33 | 5 | 1894 | 2019 | |||
| 110 | North Dakota State | South Dakota State | Dakota Marker | MVFC | 63 | 42 | 5 | 1903 | 2019 | |||
| 109 | New Hampshire | Maine | Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket | CAA | 57 | 44 | 8 | 1903 | 2019 | |||
| 109 | North Carolina | North Carolina State | North Carolina–NC State football rivalry | ACC | 67 | 36 | 6 | 1894 | 2019 | |||
| 108 | LSU | Ole Miss | Magnolia Bowl | SEC | 63 | 40 | 4 | 1 | 1894 | 2019 | ||
| 108 | Texas A&M | Baylor | Battle of the Brazos | Non-conf. | 68 | 31 | 9 | 1899 | 2011 | |||
| 108 | Illinois State | Eastern Illinois | Mid-America Classic | Non-conf. | 57 | 42 | 9 | 1901 | 2019 | |||
| 107 | North Carolina | Wake Forest | Carolina–Wake rivalry | ACC | 69 | 36 | 2 | 1888 | 2019 | |||
| 107 | Cornell | Columbia | Columbia–Cornell football rivalry | Ivy | 66 | 38 | 3 | 1889 | 2019 | |||
| 105 | Washington State | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 55 | 47 | 3 | 1903 | 2019 | ||||
| 104 | Washington | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 66 | 34 | 4 | 1897 | 2019 | ||||
| 104 | Alabama | Mississippi State | Battle for Highway 82 | SEC | 82 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 1896 | 2019 | ||
| 104 | Nebraska | Missouri | Victory Bell | Non-conf. | 65 | 36 | 3 | 1892 | 2010 | |||
| 104 | Pittsburgh | West Virginia | Backyard Brawl | Non-conf. | 61 | 40 | 3 | 1895 | 2011 | |||
| 104 | Missouri | Iowa State | Telephone Trophy | Non-conf. | 61 | 34 | 9 | 1896 | 2011 | |||
| 103 | Iowa State | Kansas State | Farmageddon | Big 12 | 50 | 49 | 4 | 1917 | 2019 | |||
| 103 | Western Illinois | Illinois State | MVFC | 51 | 47 | 5 | 1904 | 2019 | ||||
| 103 | Dartmouth | Cornell | Cornell–Dartmouth football rivalry | Ivy | 61 | 41 | 1 | 1900 | 2019 | |||
| 103 | Michigan | Minnesota | Little Brown Jug | Big Ten | 75 | 25 | 3 | 1892 | 2017 | |||
| 103 | Ohio State | Illinois | Illibuck Trophy | Big Ten | 68 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 1902 | 2017 | ||
| 102 | Alabama | Tennessee | Third Saturday in October | SEC | 56 | 38 | 7 | 1. | 1901 | 2019 | ||
| 101 | Virginia Tech | Virginia | Commonwealth Cup | ACC | 58 | 38 | 5 | 1895 | 2019 | |||
| 100 | Penn State | Pittsburgh | The Keystone Classic | Non-conf. | 53 | 43 | 4 | 1893 | 2019 | |||
| 100 | Utah | BYU | Holy War | Non-conf. | 62 | 34 | 4 | 1896 | 2019 |