The 11 Most Lopsided College Basketball Rivalries

Most sports fans would probably agree rivalries are better when both teams involved have a realistic chance to come out on top when they face off. However, there are some historic feuds that have struggled to boast that kind of parity, including some that involve college basketball teams that have been turned into a bit of a punching bag.

These are the most lopsided rivalries among men’s college basketball teams

I recently decided to take a look at the college basketball teams that have the slimmest edge over a rival when it comes to the win-loss record in their all-time series. The research I did for that also helped me compile a list of the men’s squads that fall on the other side of the spectrum, so I figured I might as well give them the same treatment.

As was the case with that other post, I’m only focusing on teams that have played each other a minimum of 50 times, and these numbers are accurate as of March 1, 2026. Also, I apologize in advance if there were some unheralded rivalries between overlooked schools that you think deserve a spot on this list but managed to escape my attention.

Without further ado…

11. Arizona and Arizona State: Wildcats lead 165-87 (.655)

Arizona and Arizona State played each other for the first time in 1913, and the Wildcats got the first of what would end up being nine straight victories to open things up.

That was just the first of a number of lenghty wins streaks that have come at the expense of the Sun Devils (the longest of which was 17 games between 1945 and 1952). Arizona State has rattled off a handful of impressive ones of its own, but they have only done so much to put a dent in the deficit that’s grown since Arizona kicked off what is currently a seven-game undefeated run in 2023.

10. VCU and Richmond: Rams lead 64-33 (.660)

The showdown that’s known as the “Capital City Classic” can be traced back to 1976, and Richmond was actually responsible for the first five victories in the series between the two schools that call that city home.

However, the Rams brought that streak to an end with seven straight wins of their own to kick off a stretch where they went 18-4 against the Spiders. Richmond was able to stop the bleeding a bit midway through the 1980s, but VCU has largely been in control since the start of the millennium while winning six of the past seven matchups.

9. UNC and NC State: Tar Heels 168-82 (.672)

This is probably not the first rivalry that springs to mind when you think about North Carolina, as there are no teams in college basketball that despise each other more than UNC and Duke (if you’re curious, their rivalry is in the middle of the pack when it comes to winning percentage, as the former has the edge at .549).

However, the Tar Heels have also been playing NC State on a regular basis for more than a century. The Wolf Pack got the first two wins before trading a few with the Tar Heels, who eventually set the tone going forward with a nine-game winning streak that would have stretched to 17 if their opponents hadn’t managed to get a victory in 1926.

NC State did flip the script by winning 21 of 22 games between 1947 and 1954 (which included a series high 13-game undefeated stretch), but with the exception of another solid run in the first half of the 1970s, the guys from Chapel Hill have been the team to beat.

8. Kentucky and Tennessee: Wildcats lead 165-79 (.676)

There are two blue bloods that both pop up three times in the last eight entries, and Kentucky is the first member of that duo.

The Wildcats have ended up at the center of a number of pretty bitter rivalries. The one with Tennessee may not be as contentious as another I’ll mention in a moment, but it’s probably the fiercest one involving a fellow member of the SEC (although Florida is also a contender).

The so-called “Border Battle” began with the football teams that played for the first time in 1893, and while the Vols have their own lopsided 85-26-9 edge on that front, their foes have returned the favor on the hardwood since they kicked off the series in 1910.

Tennessee was able to keep things fairly tight for the first couple of decades, but Kentucky eventually pulled away with a string of lengthy winning streaks—none of which have been longer than the 20 consecutive contests they won between 1950 and 1960.

7. Kansas and Kansas State: Jayhawks lead 204-97 (.678)

Kansas is the other blue blood I mentioned, and Kansas State has been no match for the program that trails only Kentucky when it comes to the most wins posted by a single college basketball team over the years.

204 of the nearly 2,450 victories the Jayhawks have racked up have come at the expense of the Wildcats in the “Sunflower Showdown,” which began on the football field in 1902 before the basketball teams got in on the action five years later.

The two sides played each other fairly close for the first 15 years or so before Kansas began to pull away in the 1920s. A win in 1938 marked the start of a 22-game winning streak that came to an end in 1947, which capped off a run stretching back to 1930 where the Jayhawks went 45-4.

That streak was the longest in the history of the series before Kansas outdid itself starting in 1994, as they won 31 games in a row before it ended in 2005.

6. Gonzaga and St Mary’s: Bulldogs lead 82-38 (.683)

The West Coast Conference has largely run through Gonzaga and St. Mary’s over the past few decades, and their tournament meetings have helped spice up a rivalry that goes back to their first showdown in 1955.

The Gaels actually had the lead in the series at the start of the 1990s, but they squandered it with the help of the 17-game winning streak the Bulldogs embarked on in 1995 before it came to a merciful end in 2004. St. Mary’s was able to turn the tides the bit over the past few years, but the future of the rivalry remains up in the air ahead of Gonzaga’s move to the revived Pac-12 next season.

5. UNC and Virginia: Tar Heels lead 137-62 (.688)

“The South’s Oldest Rivalry” is used to refer to the lengthy history UNC and Virginia have on the football field, and neither school is the primary rival of the other. However, there’s still been plenty of bad blood between the two longtime ACC foes.

Virginia actually managed to win 13 of the first 14 games after they played for the first time in 1911, but 1932 marked the start of a laughably lopsided streak where the Tar Heels seized control of the series. It’s been a bit more competitive over the past 15 years or so, but it’s hard to imagine the Cavaliers will ever come close to tying things up.

4. Kentucky and Louisville: 40-18 (.690)

As I mentioned above, there’s one team that stands above the rest when it comes to the squads that have a rivalry with Kentucky: Louisville.

I was kind of surprised to learn they’ve played each other less than 60 times (they faced off for the first time in 1913 but didn’t start meeting on a regular basis until the 1980s), as they’ve certainly made up for lost time while fostering one of the nastiest rivalries college basketball has to offer.

Kentucky doesn’t have any particularly dramatic winning streaks, but the Wildcats have still been able to walk away with a win over the Cardinals more than two-thirds of the time.

3. Kansas and Oklahoma: Jayhawks lead 157-70 (.692)

I already told you Kansas was making two more appearances, and we’ve got our second courtesy of its dominance of Oklahoma. The Big 12 foes have met more than 200 times since 1920, but the series has largely been an exercise in futility for a Sooners squad that’s failed to find much sustained success.

2. Kentucky and Florida: Wildcats lead 111-43 (.721)

We’ve got one last appearance from Kentucky courtesy of Florida, which is on the wrong end of one of just two lopsided rivalries where the better team boasts a winning percentage that’s north of .700.

The Wildcats set the tone early here, as they won their first three matchups after playing the Gators for the first time in 1927 and ultimately got victories in 21 of the 22 games that opened up the series.

Florida was never able to win more than three games in a row before rattling off a six-game run in the 2000s, which was cute compared to the series-high consecutive run of 18 Kentucky was responsible for between 1942 and 1964.

1. Kansas and Iowa State: Jayhawks lead 192-70 (.733)

As promised, we’ve got our final contribution from Kansas, which has racked up more than half of its wins against Iowa State at home thanks to the 100-16 record they’ve posted when they’ve welcomed the Cyclones to Allen Fieldhouse.

It’s become a pretty competitive series over the past few years, but that’s been a major exception to how things have normally gone since they played each other for the first time in 1908.

Kansas won the first 12 games (and 31 of the first 33), and Iowa State has rarely been able to win more than a couple in a row before being subjected to a lengthier skid (although it did rattle off a five-game winning streak between 1991 and 2001).