The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time: The Civil War, the Iron Bowl, and Other Memorable Matchups

by Martin Gitlin

Overview

College football is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Fans follow their favorite team with unfailing loyalty, and nowhere do the colors come out more fervently than when rivals face off. These games bring out the passion, the rituals, and even the rage of football fans across the country. Whether based on history and tradition, or proximity and local pride, college rivalry games have an intensity unmatched by any other sporting event.

The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time: The Civil War, the Iron Bowl, and Other Memorable Matchups showcases the best of these competitions. Martin Gitlin details game highlights, the history behind the rivalries, and how the fans, players, and coaches have impacted the matchups. The fourteen top rivalries are covered, including the always-intense battles between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines, the great in-state rivalry between the Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide, and the historic contests between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen.

In addition to capturing the action of the games, this book also covers the personal stories that heighten the passion and intensity of the rivalries—including pranks pulled over the years by opposing fans. With stats and series highlights detailed in each entry, and featuring historical and contemporary photographs throughout its pages, The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time is a must-read for every fan of college football.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442229839
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/14/2014
Pages:	354
Sales rank:	1,152,871
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Martin Gitlin is a freelance writer and the author of more than 40 books on popular culture and sports. He has won many awards for his writing, including first place for General Excellence in Journalism from the Associated Press. His most recent books are The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch (2012) and The Greatest Sitcoms of All Time (Scarecrow Press, 2013).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Ohio State vs. Michigan: Woody, Bo and Beyond
Chapter 2: Alabama vs. Auburn: The Iron Bowl
Chapter 3: Army vs. Navy: War on the Gridiron
Chapter 4: Oklahoma vs. Texas: The Red River Rivalry
Chapter 5: Notre Dame vs. Southern California: The Cross-Country Clash
Chapter 6: Harvard vs. Yale: The Game
Chapter 7: Georgia vs. Florida: The World’s Largest Cocktail Party
Chapter 8: Lafayette vs. Lehigh: The First Rivalry
Chapter 9: California vs. Stanford: The Big Game
Chapter 10: Florida State vs. Miami: The Game without a Name
Chapter 11: Grambling State vs. Southern: The Bayou Classic
Chapter 12: Utah vs. Brigham Young: The Holy War
Chapter 13: Oregon vs. Oregon State: The Civil War
Chapter 14: Clemson vs. South Carolina: The Palmetto Bowl
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

To me there are many college football rivalries. In his new book Martin Gitlin examines what he feels are fourteen of the greatest college rivalries in the game of football. Mr. Gitlin examines each rivalry with interesting moments of the rivalry, traces the history of the series with highlights and statistics. There is also a year by year listing of the scores of the rivalry that is an excellent historical resource for the reader. I was also pleased to see that he included in his list of rivalries the often-overlooked Lafayette versus Lehigh that began in 1884. This chapter to me was a wealth of information for the fan and or the historian. I was also pleased with his development of 'The Game,' the Yale and Harvard battle that began in 1875. Also he also discussed the Grambling State and Southern college rivalry that has been overlooked for many years in my opinion. Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it was well written and developed, looked at both well-known and not as well-known college football rivalries. I highly recommend this book for any football library. It is an excellent read.

Gridiron Greats

[The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time is] a quick and informative read that helps stimulate new ideas on what it means to be 'great' in college football. The book’s focus on rivalry is one that will certainly resonate with many readers.

Sport in American History

College football rivalries can be fun but often turn into bitter contests for players and fans alike. Gitlin, a freelance and sports writer, details fourteen all-time rivalries, from Harvard-Yale to Georgia-Florida (commonly known as the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party). The author covers each rivalry equally in twenty to thirty pages including memorable games, players, and coaches, the rivalry outside the actual game, and concludes each chapter with game results and key facts. Each game has its own name, such as the Red River Rivalry (Texas-Oklahoma) or the Big Game (Stanford-California), but no game is a better rivalry than Army-Navy, like no game is a more bitter rivalry than Alabama-Auburn (the Iron Bowl). The book is a fun read.. . .The book has great merits to recall the Lafayette-Lehigh, the rivalry game first played in 1884, and the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State. Gitlin concludes with notes on each chapter, a select bibliography, and a brief index. In all, this is a solid little book on the ever growing popular game of college football.

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