Get familiar with college football's new and revamped rivalries

Auburn vs. Georgia 

Both of these SEC powerhouse teams have far more famous opponents despite the fact that the "Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry" is one of the five most-played rivalries in college football. Social dynamics and geographic proximity aside, the UGA-Auburn grudge match has become a who’s who of the Southeastern Conference. It’s subversive, and it defies rivalry logic.

In the last 25 meetings, the home team has won on only 10 occasions. Georgia holds a very slight 58-56-8 record over the Tigers, and it's now expanded beyond the SEC to become a national affair. Georgia may have outsmarted Auburn more often in recent years, but the Tigers routed the Dawgs in regular-season play last November, creating doubt around Kirby Smart’s squad. Georgia managed some revenge in the SEC Championship Game, making this year's contest anybody’s game.

Smart will be working with an extremely balanced offense led by sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm, wide receiver Riley Ridley and running back D’Andre Swift. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn will have to put his lucrative contract to work if he wants repeat wins over both of the most recent National Championship Game participants. 

Stanford vs. USC

Many around college football don’t consider West Coast rivalries to be very real. Maybe it’s the laid-back nature, the spread offense or the "what’s your deal?” handshake disputes. But trust me, there are no good vibrations between Stanford and USC.

This is another rivalry as old as time that has been reborn for millennials on the wings of the Jim Harbaugh-Pete Carroll feud, Stanford’s recent rash of Heisman runner-ups and USC’s coaching carousel. The games between these two hard-nosed teams are just plain good, featuring one-possession finales and triple-overtime finishes.

The best news is they play each other early, so you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving for a good, old-fashioned fight. The Trojans hold a 59-32-3 edge but have struggled in recent years, taking nothing but L’s since 2014 — until last year’s 42-24 victory. The grudge match continues on The Farm this year, where it will be Bryce Love vs. every returning linebacker USC head coach Clay Helton has to offer.  

Florida Atlantic vs. Florida International 

I was less familiar with this rivalry until Lane Kiffin became my favorite follow on Twitter . Fans of both programs love the drama that is the Shula Bowl, named after former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula. FIU and FAU have clashed on the football field almost every season in Panthers' program history. In fact, FAU’s only season that didn’t involved FIU was its first in 2001.

The two teams have been conference mates since they both joined the Sun Belt in 2005 and then jumped ship to Conference USA in 2013. This rivalry hasn’t meant much outside of Florida, with neither team competing for a conference title or even going bowling until last season. The Owls are 10-5 in the series, but the teams are tied up 2-2 since 2013, with home-field advantage playing a major role in each win. FAU defeated FIU 52-24 at home last year to clinch the Owls' first-ever berth in the C-USA title game. Then with a decisive win over North Texas, the Owls completed an undefeated conference season, making this rivalry relevant to the rest of the college football world.

This year, keeping up with the Lane Train will be hard for Butch Davis. FIU lost a lot of talent, but the Panthers do get the Owls at home in early November. Davis is known as a master recruiter so prepare for an epic Florida throwdown. Headlining the coming edition of the Shula Bowl are a 24-year-old offensive coordinator (Charlie Weis Jr.), dark horse Heisman candidate (Devin Singletary) and the most prepared backup quarterbacks in college football. 

Oklahoma vs. TCU 

This is the downright nastiest, dirtiest of all the new-order rivalries. It is the "Westworld" of college football, not just because of the graphic nature, but also because of the levels of complexity. This is a maze designed by Gary Patterson himself. It started with Bob Stoops, a worthy adversary and kindred spirit — they were the only two of their kind, defensive coordinators lost in an offense-only conference. Then came Lincoln Riley, Baker Mayfield and the innovative offense Oklahoma now boasts, ramping up the rivalry and reminding Patterson he has more to deal with than shaking off the moniker of Texas’ forgotten program.

These two teams have met seven times since 2005, and six of the meetings were decided by one possession. Since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012, Oklahoma has won four out of five meetings with every game decided on the final possession. That’s what makes this rivalry so great: close, nail-biter games, memorable plays and Mayfield stealing signs.

Now, with Mayfield off in Browner pastures, the Sooners are left with a question mark at quarterback, leaving the Horned Frogs with more than just home-field advantage when the two teams meet in mid-October. Oklahoma does have fluid depth at defensive back as well as a steadfast kicker/punter in Austin Seibert so no matter how many stars Patterson’s QBs and receivers boast, TCU better bring it. 

Colorado vs. Utah 

You may think this particular rivalry is an odd choice, boys amongst men even, but the Utes and Buffaloes getting thrown together by conference realignment is poetic, something Mike Leach might write a haiku about.

Fun fact: From 1903 to 1962, Utah and Colorado played almost every year, a total of 57 games. It is the fifth most-played rivalry in Utah’s history and the eight most-played in Colorado’s history. Colorado leads the series 32-29-3, but Utah won last year's game by a score of 34-13. It is a passionate, competitive rivalry, but it is also civil and courteous, which is a nice change of pace.

“A rivalry typically has some bad blood involved in it and some ill feelings, and there is none of that with Colorado,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham to the Denver Post last year.

Utah is the only team to never win the Pac-12 South and Colorado has stood in the Utes' path in the past, so maybe there is more to this Rumble in the Rockies than meets the eye. Plus, fans should be prepared for a feisty battle of the QBs between Utah’s Tyler Huntley and Colorado’s Steven Montez.

Notre Dame vs. everyone 

This rivalry is all-inclusive. The Fighting Irish have played teams from every current FBS conference, except the Sun Belt, which is too sober for that.

Notre Dame has played every team from the Big Ten, Pac-12 and the ACC, but the Irish have played the most games against Navy (89) and USC (87). They have become the rotating rival, the non-affiliated opponent you have to care about because when the Irish win, they matter.

Last year, Brian Kelly’s squad posted a solid 10-win season, and he is looking for a repeat performance this year. Notre Dame hasn’t posted back-to-back 10-win seasons since 1992-93. With Stanford at home, Vanderbilt as the only SEC team on the schedule and USC as the toughest road game, Kelly might just get his wish — especially since the defense returns nine starters, including linebackers Te’von Coney and Drue Tranquill, who combined for 201 tackles.

Notre Dame has rumbled with everyone and rubs elbows with college footballs finest, giving us games we can’t ignore from a team we love to hate. 

UCF vs. Alabama

You knew it was coming, the reigning champ of new-school rivalries. No, we haven’t had enough of UCF’s shenanigans — as we can never have enough of self-proclaimed national champions. EVER. There are three things you need to know about this national championship rivalry.

1.) UCF defeated Alabama 40-38 in 2000, the only time the two teams have met. So technically, the Knights are 1-0 in the series, making them just one of 19 teams with an all-time winning record against the Tide.

2.) Mark Wahlberg, one of the highest-paid actors in America, called the Knights “Co-National Champions” in a video shout-out he did prior to the 2017 NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando. The Knights were also honored for their undefeated season during the Pro Bowl game itself, adding even more fuel to the Bama-UCF fire.

3.) Trophies: Alabama won the CFP trophy with a 26-23 comeback victory over Georgia, but the Knights picked up some hardware that the Tide couldn’t touch: a conference title trophy, a divisional trophy and an in-state rivalry trophy. Surely three is better than one, right?

It is unlikely that UCF would have beaten Alabama last year, but the Knights showed that they definitely earned the right to try. This is my new favorite rivalry, a rivalry for the new college football world, a world where you can be anything you want.