It’s easy to love that some of the biggest FCS rivalry games are saved for last in the college football regular season. There’s an extra layer of intrigue – some say hostilities – coupled with conference title and postseason scenarios to make the games highlights on the 2024 schedule.
While fans may be heavy into the rah-rah stuff that comes along with FCS rivalry week, there’s a good chance it isn’t the biggest priority for coaches preparing a game plan.
A winning record in a 100-year-old rivalry isn’t going to help this year’s team improve its conference title chance or postseason stock during the final full week of the FCS regular season.
Sure, with the cameras on, they’ll acknowledge the rivalries that date to the days of leather helmets. And surely, one day when they look back on their career, they’ll be proud to have been a part of the big games.
But this week? There’s just too much “now” at stake for the teams to have time for yesterday and tomorrow – any celebration can come only after the FCS rivalry games.
Following are five of the best FCS rivalry games (and the series nicknames we all love) that annually end the regular season, including the championship or postseason scenarios on the line.
Quite simply, Week 13 has a bit more flavor to it.
“The Rivalry”: Lafayette (6-5, 2-3 Patriot) at Lehigh (7-3, 4-1)
Edition: 160th
Leader: Lafayette 82-72-5 since 1884
At Stake: It’s interesting how this season has panned out in the Patriot League. Lafayette came in looking like gangbusters, having made the 2023 FCS playoffs over a Holy Cross program that owns at least a share of five straight titles. And Lehigh? Not a whole lot of people were talking about the Mountain Hawks, but it’s all changed as they’ve gotten hot with four straight wins to take control of their playoff destiny.
As storied as the most-played series is in college football, it doesn’t need any extra juice to get excited about what might be Lehigh’s first FCS playoff trip since 2017. That will come if it can sew up the PL’s automatic playoff berth, but Lafayette can mess up the Mountain Hawks’ goal. Of course, isn’t that what it’s all about in a rivalry between two Eastern Pennsylvania neighbors that are separated by about 15 miles?
Bit ‘O History: President Grover Cleveland was in office in 1884 when these teams first faced each other – just two decades removed from the Civil War being fought. That same year, two iconic structures were unveiled: the Statue of Liberty in New York City and the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Also, Alaska became a state, and you can thank this year for local anesthesia for minor medical procedures. Otherwise? Ouch.
“The Game”: Yale (6-3, 3-3 Ivy) at Harvard (8-1, 5-1)
Edition: 140th
Leader: Yale 70-61-8 since 1875
At Stake: Even for one of the biggest FCS rivalry games, the season ends here for Harvard and Yale because Ivy League teams don’t go on to participate in a postseason.
Many years in the Ivies, the title is shared between multiple teams. The rule is that if you end in first place and share the same league record, you’re tied for the championship – even if Team A beat Team B. Well, Harvard would love to have that perch to itself, and with second-place Dartmouth and Columbia already at two Ivy losses – it’s all up to the No. 17-ranked Crimson. They’re at home and have won seven games in a row since losing an early season head-scratcher against Brown. But The Game has an aura to it, and the Crimson know there’s no guarantee they will win for the first time since 2021.
Bit ‘O History: When this game was first contested, former Union top general U.S. Grant was president of the United States. Also, 1875 was the first year of the Kentucky Derby. Oh, for the record? Grant ends up having a bunch of friends who are busted in the Whiskey Ring Scandal. It seems as if they were skimming off the profits, and taking some of the whiskey, too.
“Capital Cup”: William & Mary (7-4, 4-3 CAA) at Richmond (9-2, 7-0)
Edition: 135th
Leader: Richmond 65-64-5 since 1898
At Stake: Richmond has clinched the CAA’s automatic playoff berth, so the No. 10 Spiders aren’t worried about making the postseason when it comes to this massive rivalry game. The big deal for Richmond is proving it deserves to be in the high-seeding realm. Three-point wins over unranked Hampton and Campbell the past two weeks – coupled with an overall weak strength of schedule – makes this game key for the Spiders as William & Mary is one of their top opponents.
For the visiting Tribe, if they want to stay in the playoff debate, they need to get that eighth win and hope for a lot of good things to go their way nationally. There are arguments against W&M making the playoffs, like losses to Towson and Elon, so a win over Richmond is a must.
Bit ‘O History: U.S. President William McKinley was in charge in 1898 as the Spanish-American War broke out everywhere from Cuba to the Philippines. It was the beginning of the United States going from being mostly isolationist to becoming a colonial power heading into a new century. Also happening just up the road in the nation’s capital was the annexation of the future state of Hawaii – which was tied to the war going on. Lastly, Bayer – the drug company – introduced heroin as a cough suppressant. Oh yeah, it’ll make you forget about that cough.
“Brawl of the Wild”: Montana (8-3, 5-2 Big Sky) at Montana State (11-0, 7-0)
Edition: 123rd
Leader: Montana 74-42-5 (one vacated win) since 1897
At Stake: Obviously, the Great Divide Trophy is once again at stake, along with in-state bragging rights for a year. All of that is great, but there are other important scenarios as well, which have become routine in this November game. Second-ranked Montana State already has locked up the Big Sky’s automatic playoff berth as the conference champion, but the FCS’ only unbeaten team also is battling No. 1 North Dakota State and two-time reigning national champion South Dakota State for the No. 1 overall playoff seeding – and having a weaker strength of schedule up to now could end up hurting the Bobcats. They want to win convincingly.
On the flip side, No. 9 Montana has three FCS losses, two of which were close ones against teams that are likely going to be left out of the playoffs (North Dakota and Weber State). The Griz could do wonders with a win in this rivalry game, getting a ninth victory to end up with a top-eight seed and first-round bye (depending on other national results).
Bit ‘O History: William McKinley was the first-year president of the United States in 1897, when this rivalry began. But it wasn’t the only big sporting event to start that year as the Boston Marathon got its start earlier in April. Oh, and if you loved (or hated) your physics class back in school, you should know the electron was discovered the same year Cat-Griz got underway.
“Battle of the Domes”: Idaho (8-3, 5-2 Big Sky) at Idaho State (5-6, 3-4)
Edition: 46th
Leader: Idaho 32-13 since 1916
At Stake: Idaho wants to lock up a top-eight seed in the FCS playoffs, which would give the No. 7 Vandals a first-round bye over Thanksgiving week and a home game in the second round. On the flip side, Idaho State has no chance at a playoff spot, but it has a shot at only its second six-win season since the Bengals went 8-4 in 2014. Plus, the Bengals would likely cost the Vandals that first-round bye with an upset inside the ICCU Dome (formerly Holt Arena).
Among FCS rivalry games, this may not have been played as many times as some of the others on this list, but there is more at stake than just in-state bragging rights. It’s a good one.
Bit ‘O History: In 1916, when these two programs first met, the United States was on the verge of being drawn into World War I in Europe. President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected that year, and, of course, most importantly, Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain opened in Tennessee this year.
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