ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

What is the best rivalry series name in college sports?

Getty Images

The Game: simple yet elegant.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST RIVALRY SERIES NAMES IN COLLEGE SPORTS, WE'LL TAKE "THE GAME" FOR SHEER MAGNITUDE

What is "All-World Power Rankings?"

Pittsburgh and West Virginia are gonna "knuckle up" tonight at 7pm on ESPN. (We can't shake the feeling that Pittsburgh could make the Final 4 this season.) They call Pitt vs. WVU "The Backyard Brawl," which is a pretty cool rivalry series name, especially if you've seen the two schools play football. Remember a few years ago when Pitt stopped Rich Rod and WVU from playing for the BCS Title? We digress. We decided to rank cool rivalry series names; we do realize that most of these are steeped more in college football tradition than college basketball tradition, but in many cases the application of the concept is true in both sports. E-mail us with ideas on the topic.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	"THE GAME"	People will argue forever on what the greatest rivalry in college sports is, but Michigan/OSU will always be in the discussion. Calling it "The Game" seems accurate on a lot of levels, no?
	2 (410)	CLEAN, OLD-FASHIONED HATE	This is a reference to Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. That series name seems fairly direct and to-the-point, which is cool.
	3 (21)	THE HOLY WAR	This "naming convention" (inside ESPN joke no one will get) is used for a few rivalries, including ND vs. BC in football. Did you see ND vs. BC this year? Game was a flippin' joke. The application we like it for is Utah vs. BYU. Thing can get legitimately heated.
	4 (127)	THE BRAWL OF THE WILD	Montana vs. Montana State. Get it? Like Call of the Wild? Clever. Hey, here's "vid" of the '08 game.
	5 (899)	BATTLE FOR THE RAG	LSU vs. Tulane. This title seem weird to anyone else, aside from the fact that LSU probably wins nine out of every ten times out on the gridiron?

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	THE BACKYARD BRAWL	Title implies going out and smacking someone in the mouf. That's basically what Pitt and WVU do to each other, gridiron and hardwood, almost every time out.
	28 (701)	THE ARCH RIVALRY	Illinois vs. Missouri. Again, clever, no? We enjoy clever. It's our "sensibility."

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		BEDLAM (The football equivalent in '09 is gonna be a good game.)
		THE WAR ON I-4 (Does this title seem a little over the top?)

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine