If you take a look at college football’s 2026 schedule, there’s a lot that makes no sense.
North Carolina will open the year in Ireland against TCU, but the Tar Heels won’t play Wake Forest, less than two hours away down Interstate 40. Virginia and NC State, about three and a half hours apart by car, will fly to Rio de Janeiro to open the season against each other. Oregon will travel to Michigan State, but the Ducks won’t play Oregon State.
And the list goes on.
We all know why superconferences exist, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve taken away a lot of rivalries. Here are some of the best annual matchups that are no longer guaranteed, even among schools in the same conference.
Florida vs. Tennessee
Funny enough, this wasn’t a true rivalry until the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992. Florida’s traditional rivals included Auburn and LSU, along with Georgia, while Tennessee cared more about Alabama, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt.
But when the SEC paired the Gators and Vols together annually, Steve Spurrier and Phil Fulmer took it from there. Much of the heat around the “Third Saturday in September” came from two elite programs colliding, and Spurrier’s constant jabs didn’t hurt. Even with Peyton Manning, Tennessee struggled to solve Florida during Spurrier’s peak.
The rivalry worked because both teams were good and both fan bases cared deeply. But with SEC expansion, the game wasn’t protected. Both teams have too many other rivalries, so they won’t meet this year or in 2028. And that’s a big loss for the sport.
Iowa State vs. Kansas State
Both programs have rivalries that matter more locally, but that never made Farmageddon any less fun. These schools are similar in almost every way: agricultural programs in college towns, often overshadowed by their in-state rivals. And in recent years, both have been competitive at the top of the Big 12.
They also shared one of the longest uninterrupted series in college football history, 107 straight years through 2025, never broken even by COVID.
That ends this season. The Big 12 opted to leave most rivalries unprotected. Kansas State had to keep Kansas, but Iowa State wasn’t given a protected rival at all. For a program with limited historic ties to the league’s newer members, that feels like a mistake the conference should revisit.
Duke vs. Georgia Tech
To its credit, the ACC finally moved away from a divisional format that made little geographic sense. Duke and NC State, separated by 25 miles, met just four times in 20 years.
The new model restores the Tobacco Road rivalries, ensuring Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest see each other regularly. But it came at a cost.
Duke lost its annual game with Georgia Tech, a series that dates back to 1933. It may not seem obvious, but these programs are more alike than they appear: academically focused schools located near larger state universities that serve as their primary rivals.
Georgia Tech has played Duke more than almost any opponent, and the two met annually for 90 straight years until 2023. Losing that continuity is another example of realignment ignoring history.
Notre Dame vs. USC
USC’s move to the Big Ten made sense financially, but it came at a steep cost in tradition. And now the Trojans and Irish can’t even agree on when to play.
In theory, the solution should be simple: schedule USC a nearby road game around its trip to South Bend. Indiana or Wisconsin would have made sense this year. But with multiple Midwest trips now baked into USC’s schedule, the logistics have become more complicated.
This rivalry will likely return soon, but it’s still strange to see a college football season without Notre Dame and USC.
Oregon vs. Oregon State
The Ducks and Beavers are separated by less than an hour. Scheduling this game should be simple. But budget realities and conference scheduling make it more complicated than it should be.
Oregon must navigate nine conference games and maintain a certain number of home dates for revenue. Oregon State, meanwhile, isn’t interested in accepting a lesser role in the series, which requires Oregon to travel to Corvallis every other year.
The issue isn’t a lack of interest. It’s math. Athletic departments want seven home games, and Big Ten scheduling often forces Oregon into five road games every other season. That leaves little flexibility.
Both schools want to keep the rivalry alive, but they have not found a workable solution yet.
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State
This one is the most contentious. The Bedlam series currently has no future dates scheduled, and neither side seems particularly motivated to fix that.
That’s understandable on some level. Oklahoma State is just 20-91-7 against Oklahoma all time, and the gap could widen further with the Sooners now in the SEC.
Still, in-state rivalries should find a way to survive. Right now, neither program appears eager to make that happen. And that means both fan bases lose.
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