College Football Realignment Sidelined 4 Historic Rivalries as Schools Drop Tougher Games
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 11
College Football Realignment Sidelined 4 Historic Rivalries as Schools Drop Tougher Games
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 11
Summary
Four once-defining college football rivalries are now dormant or only sporadic, with conference realignment and softer scheduling eroding a core part of the sport’s identity.
Oklahoma-Nebraska has not been played since 2022 after both programs changed conferences, and a planned 2029 revival is portrayed as vulnerable to cancellation.
Pitt-West Virginia lost its annual footing after the Big East collapsed; although the Backyard Brawl returned in 2022, it is not scheduled again until 2029.
Kansas-Missouri ended as an annual series after 2011, while Michigan-Notre Dame largely stopped after 2014, leaving only occasional home-and-home matchups on future calendars.
The broader backdrop is a sport still struggling for guardrails on NIL and roster movement, with critics arguing money and playoff incentives now outweigh tradition.
With billion-dollar media deals erasing century-old college football rivalries, will a mandated national framework actually save the sport's cherished traditions?
As federal bills attempt to freeze the Power Four, could ongoing antitrust lawsuits completely shatter the NCAA's new revenue-sharing cap?
Can a strict agent fee cap and mandatory NIL disclosures truly stop the massive roster budget arms race dominating college athletics?