The 12 Most Evenly-Matched College Football Rivalries

It’s kind of hard for two teams to have a genuine rivalry when one of them is known for firmly having the upper hand. There are some fairly lopsided ones in the world of college football, but there are also plenty of others where a couple of schools have played each other incredibly close over the years.

No college football rivalries are more evenly matched than these

I previously took a look at the most lopsided rivalries college football has to offer, and I figured I might as well do the flip side of the coin by seeing which teams have traded a similar number of blows during meetings between the two schools.

For the purpose of this list, I’m only including long-running rivalries where there have been at least 50 meetings between both teams, and I’m also limiting it to FBS programs.

Miami-Florida State: Hurricanes Lead 37-33 (.529)

This is, comparatively speaking, one of the newer rivalries on this list, as FSU and Miami didn’t play each other for the first time until 1951 despite getting off the ground in 1902 and 1926, respectively.

The Hurricanes won eight of the first nine matchups, but the Seminoles answered with a seven-game winning streak. Miami eventually regained control for a couple of decades starting in the 1970s, and the series has largely been defined by stretches where one school spends a few years at the top before things go the other direction ever since Florida State emerged as a powerhouse under Bobby Bowden.

Arizona-Arizona State: Wildcats Lead 51-46-1 (.526)

Most rivalries stem from geographic proximity, and there’s usually plenty of bad blood between schools that are located in the same state. That’s certainly the case with Arizona’s most prominent higher learning institutions, which met on the gridiron for the first time all the way back in 1899.

Both the Wildcast and the Sun Devils have rattled off some lengthy winning streaks in what is known as “The Duel in the Desert” (Arizona boasts the longest with an 11-game run that started in 1932). However, the Territorial Cup, which has the distinction of being college football’s oldest rivalry trophy, has traded hands dozens of times thanks to the fairly back-and-forth nature of the series.

TCU-Baylor: Horned Frogs Lead 59-54-7 (.521)

This is the first time Baylor is making an appearance, but it won’t be the last.

The Bears and the Horned Frogs have been engaged in “The Bluebonnet Battle” since 1899. TCU firmly had the upper hand for a 20-year stretch of dominance that began midway through the 1950s and ended around two decades later, but Baylor responded with a fairly one-sided run of its own before things began to even out.

TCU has been the team to beat over the last decade while taking the lead in the series, but history suggests it’s only a matter of time until the pendulum swings the other way.

Iowa State-Kansas State: Cyclones Lead 55-50-4 (.523)

Iowa State and Kansas State boast the only uninterrupted rivalry in college football, as the Cyclones and the Wildcats have played every single year since their inaugural meeting in 1917.

It is largely a tale of two half-centuries, as the Cyclones had the edge against a Wildcat team that spent decades being viewed as one of the most hapless college football programs in existence before momentum shifted back in their favor after Bill Snyder finally righted the ship.

With that said, Iowa State has managed to turn the tide, as they’ve won six of the past eight meetings since 2018.

Middle Tennessee-WKU: Hilltoppers Lead 38-35-1 (.520)

This might not be the most high-profile rivalry compared to the rest of the ones on this list, but it’s still earned a spot.

Known as “100 Miles of Hate,” the interstate rivalry between Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky began when they played for the first time in 1914.

The Blue Raiders were in control before the rivalry went on a 16-year hiatus after they played in 1991, and the momentum has firmly swung back in the Hilltoppers’ favor since it resumed; WKU is on a six-game winning streak and has emerged victorious in nine of the past 10 installments.

Illinois-Northwestern: Fighting Illini Lead 58-55-5 (.513)

We’ve got another rivalry that can trace its roots back to the end of the 19th century, as Illinois and Northwestern first played each other in 1892.

The two schools, which currently compete for the Land of Lincoln trophy that replaced the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk in 2009, have both had stretches where they were in control. That’s largely been the case for the Huskies since the start of the millennium, although the Fighting Illini had begun to emerge as the team to beat over the past few years.

Baylor-Texas Tech: Bears Lead 42-40-1 (.512)

As promised, we’ve got another appearance from Baylor thanks to a rivalry with Texas Tech that goes back to 1929.

What is cheekily referred to as the “Butt Bowl” can essentially be broken down into four distinct eras where either the Bears or the Red Raiders had a big edge. Texas Tech was most recently on top during its 15-game winning streak from 1996 to 2010, but Baylor has seized control since snapping it while regaining its lead in the series.

Iowa-Wisconsin: Badgers Lead 49-47-2 (.510)

Wisconsin is at the center of two of the tightest rivalries in college football, and its first appearance here comes courtesy of the one with Iowa that goes back to 1894.

The two squads have been members of the Big Ten for 125 years and have gotten to know each other very well during that span. The Hawkeyes are responsible for the longest stretch of dominance thanks to an 18-game unbeaten streak between 1977 and 1996, but the Badgers still have a slight edge that Iowa has chipped away at with wins in four of their last five showdowns.

Kansas-Missouri: Tigers Lead 57-55-9 (.508)*

Nothing sums up the nature of this rivalry like the fact that the two teams can’t agree on what the actual record is.

Missouri insists it should be credited with 58 wins, as the Big Eight forced Kansas to forfeit the 23-7 victory it earned in 1960 for using an ineligible player. However, the NCAA did not acknowledge it and still credits the Jayhawks with the win.

Regardless of which side of that particular narrative you opt to buy into, the two schools still have one of the tightest rivalries in college football. It did go dormant after Missouri defected to the SEC in 2012 prior to coming back this season, which was probably a blessing in disguise for a Kansas team that’s lost six of the last seven matchups.

LSU-Florida: Tied 35-34-3 (.507)*

We’ve got back-to-back asterisks thanks to the three wins between 2012 and 2015 that LSU was forced to vacate. However, they aren’t acknowledged on Florida’s own website, so I’m going to include them here.

The Tigers and the Gators met for the first time in 1937, but the game didn’t become an annual tradition until 1953. There have only been a couple of lengthy periods of dominance for each side; Florida had one from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, while LSU is in the midst of one stretching back to 2017.

Cincinnati-Miami (OH): Bearcats lead 61-60-7 (.504)

It’s kind of wild to think there was once a time when Miami (OH) was firmly the big brother in what is one of the oldest rivalries in college football; the two teams met for the first time in 1888, the same year North Carolina kicked off its rivalry with Wake Forest and Duke.

It seems safe to assume this entry will keep falling down the list when you consider Cincinnati has won 17 of the last 18 games, as the RedHawks snapped a 16-game winning streak with an overtime victory in 2023 to reclaim the Victory Bell (which seemed like it might remain on their rival’s campus for eternity based on how things had been trending).

Minnesota-Wisconsin: Tied At 63-63-8 (.500)

No rivals have played more often than Minnesota and Wisconsin have since meeting for the first time in 1890, and they have literally been as tight as they can be by each racking up 63 wins while battling for Paul Bunyan’s Axe (as well as the Slab of Bacon that mysteriously disappeared in the 1940s).