You think you know everything about the big rivalry games in the FCS ranks, right? Obviously, it must be the Bayou Classic, the Brawl of the Wild, or the battle for the Dakota Marker.
In terms of recent relevance, those games have massive storylines attached to them. But today we’re going to bring you the games that will have massive rivalry storylines this fall because of how many times they’ve been played. They’ve been relevant for more than a century, not just a decade or two.
We break it down by conference and give you the most-often played FCS rivalry game for the conferences that have been around for a while. So which games have been contested the most among teams at the FCS level? How far do they go back?
Take a look:
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CONFERENCE: Patriot League
LAFAYETTE VS. LEHIGH
“The Rivalry”
GAMES: 159
LEADER: Lafayette leads 82-72-5
2024 DATE: Nov. 23 at Lehigh
THE DETAILS: No college football rivalry game has been played more often than Lafayette-Lehigh. Not Alabama-Auburn, Michigan-Ohio State, USC-UCLA, or even what seems like the cradle of civilization when it comes to college football – the Ivy League. This Patriot League battle between Lafayette and Lehigh is so storied that it’s just referred to simply as The Rivalry. Why does it need to be snazzier than that? The two schools are roughly 15 miles apart in the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pennsylvania, and they didn’t miss a game in a season for more than 120 years — from 1897 until CoVid screwed up the world in 2020.
OTHER NOTABLES: Bucknell vs. Lafayette (101 games back to 1883); Colgate vs. Holy Cross (85 games since 1917); Bucknell vs. Lehigh (85 games since 1888).
CONFERENCE: Ivy League
PRINCETON VS. YALE
GAMES: 145
LEADER: Yale leads 80-55-10
2024 DATE: Nov. 16 at Yale
THE DETAILS: As anyone who follows college football knows, the Ivy League is full of incredible rivalries just dripping with history. In fact, of the top seven most played intraconference rivalries in the FCS, five of them are Ivy League games. But leading them all in the Ivy League is Princeton vs. Yale – a game that pits two schools about a three-hour drive apart in today’s terms, but when it was first played in 1873 right after the Civil War, it took a tad bit longer by railroad. These were some of the first games played in the history of the sport. And yes, this one has been played more often and for longer than Harvard-Yale (139 games back to 1875).
OTHER NOTABLES: Cornell vs. Penn (129 games since 1893); Brown vs. Yale (127 games since 1880); Dartmouth vs. Harvard (126 games since 1882).
CONFERENCE: CAA
RICHMOND VS. WILLIAM & MARY
“The Capital Cup”
GAMES: 134
LEADER: Richmond 65-64-5
2024 DATE: Nov. 23 at Richmond
THE DETAILS: This won’t officially qualify as an intraconference rivalry after this year, as Richmond is moving out of the CAA to the Patriot League. When it comes to the most played rivalries among FCS schools – intraconference or not – none has been as hotly contested as The Capital Cup in Virginia. The two teams are virtually tied (Richmond leads 65-64-5) going into their 135th matchup this November.
OTHER NOTABLES: Maine vs. New Hampshire (113 games since 1903); Maine vs. Rhode Island (101 games since 1911)
CONFERENCE: Big Sky
MONTANA VS. MONTANA STATE
“The Brawl of the Wild”
GAMES: 122
LEADER: Montana 74-42-5
2024 DATE: Nov. 23 at Montana State
THE DETAILS: The Brawl, which dates to 1897, is the oldest consistently played rivalry among FCS schools that are not from the Northeastern United States. The winner takes home the Great Divide Trophy and bragging rights. If you don’t know anything about FCS football and this rivalry, think Alabama-Auburn and how it splits towns and sometimes even families in its home state. That’s how hotly contested this one is. And in recent years, the winner usually gets a leg up on being a national contender.
OTHER NOTABLES: Idaho vs. Montana (89 games since 1903); Sacramento State vs. UC Davis (70 games since 1954)
CONFERENCE: MVFC
SOUTH DAKOTA VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
“South Dakota Showdown Series”
GAMES: 117
LEADER: SDSU leads 57-53-7
2024 DATE: Oct. 26 at SDSU
THE DETAILS: The two schools have been bitter rivals since the Division II days and even before that. They even disagree on how many times South Dakota has won the game (by one game). Both teams were strong in 2023, but SDSU was a machine on its way to a second consecutive national championship – blowing out the Coyotes for their 57th win in a series dating back to 1889.
OTHER NOTABLES: You can add just about any rivalry game pitting one of the Dakota schools against the other. Behind USD-SDSU, there’s the UND-NDSU rivalry matchup that played for the Nickel Trophy in the D2 days (116 games back to 1894), and one of the nation’s top current rivalries, the Dakota Marker game between NDSU and SDSU (115 games back to 1903).
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CONFERENCE: Southern
THE CITADEL VS. FURMAN
GAMES: 103
LEADER: Furman leads 63-37-3
2024 DATE: Oct. 5 at The Citadel
THE DETAILS: These two South Carolina rivals have been battling each other since 1913, dating back to the days when they both also would play in the old SIAA against many schools that would eventually make up the SEC. Furman and The Citadel would go toe-to-toe with those schools on the gridiron, and they definitely enjoyed battling each other – and nothing has changed in this SoCon rivalry.
OTHER NOTABLES: Furman vs. Wofford (97 times since 1889); The Citadel vs. VMI (79 times since 1920)
CONFERENCE: MEAC
HOWARD VS. MORGAN STATE
“Battle of the Beltway”
GAMES: 89
LEADER: Morgan State 46-39-3
2024 DATE: Nov. 23 at Morgan State
THE DETAILS: Whether this game is played in Washington D.C. or Baltimore, it’ll always be a big deal. It was first played in 1899, just one year after Morgan State fielded its first team, and six years after Howard started its program. The Bison won the first game 71-0.
CONFERENCE: SWAC
ALABAMA A&M VS. ALABAMA STATE
“The Magic City Classic”
GAMES: 88
LEADER: Alabama A&M leads 44-41-3
2024 DATE: Oct. 26 at Legion Field in Birmingham
THE DETAILS: There is actually a tie in the SWAC, as Alcorn State vs. Jackson State has also been contested 88 times. We gave the Magic City Classic the nod here because it dates back longer (1924 vs. 1927) and the status of the game and the crowd that attends it (nearly 70,000 last year) demands that kind of respect.
CONFERENCE: Pioneer
BUTLER VS. VALPARAISO
“Battle for the Hoosier Helmet Trophy”
GAMES: 83
LEADER: Butler leads 53-30-0
2024 DATE: Nov. 9 at Valparaiso
THE DETAILS: The Pioneer League is hardly ancient, and it possesses schools located across the country – so most of the games aren’t what would be considered bitter rivalries. But with Butler and Valpo both being in Indiana; they go way back to 1927. While most of the Pioneer League’s teams haven’t played each other long, this is the exception.
CONFERENCE: Southland
NORTHWESTERN STATE VS. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
GAMES: 76
LEADER: Northwestern State 45-28-3
2024 DATE: Oct. 5 at Stephen F. Austin
THE DETAILS: Once known as the Battle for the Chief Caddo Trophy, both schools agreed to disassociate from that name last fall. Regardless, this rivalry has gone on for a long time (this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first matchup). When Sam Houston moved on to the FBS ranks in recent years, that left the Southland looking for a new rivalry leader – as the Battle of Piney Woods between the Bearkats and Stephen F. Austin was played 96 times dating back to 1923.
OTHER NOTABLES: McNeese vs. Northwestern State (72 games since 1951); Northwestern State vs. Southeastern Louisiana (68 games since 1935).
NOTE: Curious about most-played non-conference FCS rivalries? The top one is Eastern Illinois-Illinois State, contested 111 times since 1901. Others of note are Brown-Rhode Island in their state’s Governors Cup, and Colgate-Cornell in upstate New York.
