Learn about the top five college football rivalries
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| Braden: Top 5 College Football Rivalries. |
| Ann: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Top 5 College Football Rivalries. |
| Braden: Now, you think that professional sports would be more important than college sports, but in the USA, that’s just not true. For many people, college sports and college football in particular is far more important than professional football. |
| Ann: In fact, if you don’t live in the USA, you may have never heard of any of these teams, but if you do live in the US, you know that the rivalries and college football are often more entertaining and more passionate than between any professional team. |
| Braden: That’s right. Well, we have a lot of stuff to get through here, so our number five in our top 5 college football rivalries is Army versus Navy. |
| Ann: Now, this isn’t a war we’re talking about, these are two colleges. If you've only started watching football recently, this might not seem like much of a rivalry. |
| Braden: That’s right. The past few seasons, Navy has been almost untouchable, just an incredible team in the past 4 to 5 years. However, this rivalry is much older than just the past decade. It's also much, much deeper than just that. |
| Ann: Army versus Navy is a rivalry that goes far beyond just sports and goes into the very military. |
| Braden: On both sides, fans support their team not because they think their team is better, but because of what their team represents, the army or the navy. |
| Ann: People believe in the Army or they believe in the Navy. The rivalry between these two branches of the military will probably never end, neither will the football rivalry. |
| Braden: Number 4 in our top 5 college rivalries is Oklahoma versus Texas. |
| Ann: This rivalry is a perfect example of a true rivalry. It's not just about the schools or the football, it's about everything. |
| Braden: For example, at an Oklahoma/Texas football game, the stadium is divided at the 50 yard line between the two teams. So, one side is red and the other side is orange respectively, and there’s the line. |
| Ann: It's fascinating to see that at Oklahoma, the administration, the students, the players, and the fans all consider their biggest rival to be Texas. |
| Braden: They both have major competitors within their own states but these two teams play out every year, one of the best and most entertaining and surprising college football rivalries in the country. |
| Ann: Our number 3 in our top 5 college football rivalries is USC versus Notre Dame. USC are the initials for University of Southern California. |
| Braden: This is one of the oldest rivalries in college football and dates back to 1926. They may be on opposite sides of the country, but that doesn't diminish the intense feelings on either side. |
| Ann: As one commentator put it, "Notre Dame will never forget the 1966 game, when they trounced USC, 51-0, at the Coliseum. |
| Braden: USC will always have 1974, when they rallied to crush Notre Dame, 55-24." |
| Ann: Our number 2 in our top 5 college football rivalries is Alabama versus Auburn. |
| Braden: This is one of the classic examples of a college rivalry, but it’s also an in-state college rivalry, so this rivalry divides the entire State. |
| Ann: Some think that it's because Alabama doesn't have any professional sports team in any major league, so all that anger needs to be let out somewhere and what better place than on a football field. |
| Braden: Or in the football stands as what tends to be the case with this particular rivalry. This rivalry is so intense and occasionally violent that at different times in their history, these two teams have actually been prohibited from playing each other. |
| Ann: This was done to avoid problems between the schools, but more importantly, between the fans. |
| Braden: And our number 1 college football rivalry is Ohio versus Michigan. This is one of the top rivalries in any sport. |
| Ann: It's also one of the most fun to watch. Games between Ohio State and Michigan are almost always close even though most recently, Ohio State has won the majority of the games. |
| Braden: This rivalry is so important to both schools that beating each other is more important than beating everybody else. |
| Ann: For example, the Michigan head coach was fired because during the 6 years as head coach, he never beat Ohio State. |
| Braden: That’s right, even though Michigan (during this same 6 years) was still ranked as one of the best teams in the country. So, that just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening! |
| Ann: See you next time! |
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