To a degree unlike any other sport in America, college football is built on legacy and tradition. If the heart of those traditions and legacies is loyalty to alma maters and long-time fanhoods, then rivalries are the blood pumping through its chambers. But every sport has rivalries. Red Sox and Yankees. Lakers and Celtics. Machester United and Liverpool. Blackhawks and Red Wings.
But what makes college football rivalries unique are all the bits in between. The personal connections to each school. The deep history involved with those rivalries that often spills beyond the bounds of the playing field.