Top 50 Rivalries in American Sports History (Part III)

30. Cowboys-49ers (Pro Football): After losing three years in a row to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs during the 70's, the San Francisco 49ers managed to get revenge against "America's Team" in one of the best games in NFL history. The 70s was clearly a decade dominated by the Cowboys, but in the waning seconds of the 1981 NFC Championship Game, Joe Montana threw pass while backpedaling away from two Dallas defenders, and although it seemed that the ball would sail past the end zone, Dwight Clark jumped into the air for the touchdown, thus ending the reign of Dallas. The clash of two dynasties is clearly defined by this iconic play, quite possibly the best in football history.

29. Florida-Georgia (College Football): Deemed the "World's Largest Cocktail Party", these two bordering states use college football as a way to settle their differences. There have been many great moments from this rivalry, where the most memorable came in 1980. With Georgia's perfect season on the line, and down by one point on their own 7 yard line, quarterback Buck Belue threw a 25-yard pass to Lindsay Scott who ran 93 yards for the game winning touchdown (Georgia went on to win the National Championship). Then, in 2007, Georgia looked to defeat Tim Tebow and the Gators by intimidating them early with the "Gator Stomp", a tactic that took place after Georgia's first touchdown, where the entire team stormed the field to celebrate. Clearly the rivalry is big enough to sell out the Jacksonville Jaguars' stadium each and every year, the location where the game is played.

28. Sampras-Agassi (Pro Tennis): Having first played each other as junior tennis players, Agassi and Sampras had a competitive rivalry lasting from 1989 to 2002. The two first met each other in a Grand Slam Final in 1990, when Sampras upset Agassi in straight sets. While the rivalry remained close in the first few years, Sampras began consistently beating Agassi following the 1995 US Open. It has been reported that Sampras and Agassi are still struggling to mend fences even after they retired from the sport.

27. UConn-Tennessee (Women's College Basketball): Unlike most rivalries in sports, the UConn-Tennessee rivalry is more about the two coaches rather than the players on the court. Pat Summitt of Tennessee has the most wins as a coach in NCAA Division I college basketball, male or female. Meanwhile, Geno Auriemma of UConn has yet to lose in the National Championship Game, as he has won the most championships in Women's college basketball history--one more than Summitt. With the two schools being the two best women's college basketball institutions, a rivalry has been formed against the two universities. With UConn beating Tennessee four times in the National Championship four times, Geno has once called Tennessee the "evil empire" so clearly there is tension between these two incredible coaches.

26. Nebraska-Oklahoma (College Football): Although both teams were in the Big 12 Conference following its creation in 1996, the rivalry between Nebraska and Oklahoma was most heated when the two teams competed in the Big Eight Conference before 1996. The most notable game came in 1971, when the defending champion, top ranked Cornhuskers entered with a 20-game win streak, as they played second ranked Oklahoma. Nebraska went on to win the game thanks to a game-winning touchdown with 1:38 left to play. Oklahoma has given Nebraska their only loss in a season five times, while Nebraska has done the same to Oklahoma twice. The rivalry may be over now that Nebraska left for the Big Ten, but Oklahoma fans were clearly not happy when an assistant at Oklahoma, Bo Pelini, left for the head coaching job at Nebraska.

25. Affirmed-Alydar (Horse Racing): By far the best rivalry in all of horse racing, Affirmed and Alydar raced 10 times during their careers, including three epic duels during Affirmed's quest for the Triple Crown. In the 1978 Kentucky Derby, Alydar entered as the favorite, yet Affirmed managed to edge him out by one-and-a-half lengths. In the next Triple Crown race, the Preakness, Affirmed held off Alydar for the majority of the race, as he earned the second jewel of the Triple Crown with a time of 1:54. The final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, was by far the best race of this rivalry. At close to the mile marker, Alydar drew even with Affirmed, and from there, the two horses raced in one of the greatest duels in history. Affirmed won the race by a head, thus capturing the Triple Crown, and capping off an incredible season against his arch-nemisis.


24. Louisville-Kentucky (College Basketball): Since Kentucky and Louisville played in the 1983 National Championship, the two teams have played every year in the Battle for the Bluegrass. The rivalry reached its peak when Rick Pitino, the head coach who won Kentucky a National Championship in 1996, left to coach for Louisville in 2001. Having played six times in the NCAA Tournament, twice within the past three years, a lot is normally on the line when these two teams play.

23. Redskins-Cowboys (Pro Football): Since 1961, the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys have played twice in the regular season each and every year, creating a heated competition between these two teams for the NFC East title. In fact, in 1961, the Cowboys tried to sneak 76 chickens onto the Redskins' field at halftime, with one black chicken meant to symbolize Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall and his refusal to sign black players (the prank failed by the way). The two teams met in the playoffs twice, both in the NFC Championship Game, and Washington won the two games by a combined score of 57-20. The Cowboys have the second best win percentage in NFL history, so when these teams play, there are almost always playoff implications for at least one team, thus creating many memorable moments in the regular season.

22. Brady-Manning (Pro Football): Ever since Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe as the starting quarterback of the Patriots in 2001, there has been a competitive rivalry between the two quarterbacks. Between the two of them, Manning and Brady have won four Super Bowls, 22 Pro-Bowls, and 7 MVPs awards. With 15 meetings over the past 14 seasons, fans love to tune in to watch two of the greatest quarterbacks in football battle it out. Neither quarterback looks to retire anytime soon, so we are sure to see many more memorable moments in the near future. This type of quarterback rivalry may never be duplicated again.

21. Martina Navratilova-Chris Evert (Women's Pro Tennis): Navratilova and Evert faced each other an astounding 14 times in grand-slam finals, which made for one of the greatest rivalries in the sport of tennis.  Martina ended up getting the better of Evert 10 times, which has given her the title of greatest female tennis player of all time; however, Evert was pesky, and her four wins were all spread out throughout Navratilova's reign. Evert actually completed the career grand slam by winning the US Open, French Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon before Navratilova, and at the time was the sixth woman ever to accomplish that fete (Navratilova completed the career grand slam the very next year in 1983). They have each won 18 grand-slam singles tournaments, which is tied for 4th all-time among women, and therefore each achieved incredible success throughout their respective careers despite their intense rivalry with one another.

Top 50 Rivalries in American Sports History (Part I)

Honorable Mentions: Texas-Texas A&M, Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets, Clemson-South Carolina, Florida-Florida State, New Jersey Devils-New York Rangers, Michael Jordan-Dominique Wilkins, Michigan-Michigan State, Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa

50. Ravens-Steelers (Pro Football): At one point the hottest rivalry in all of football, Baltimore and Pittsburgh have fought viciously every single time they meet on the field, seeing how both teams were defined by their hard-hitting, bone-crushing defense. The two teams both play in the AFC North, which  means they are required to play at least twice a year, yet we have seen these teams play in the postseason three times. The Ravens were a very young franchise when this rivalry began, but thanks to big names like Ray Lewis, James Harrison, Ed Reed, and Troy Polamalu, the Ravens-Steelers rivalry was always fun to watch.

49. Yankees-Mets (Pro Baseball): The Subway Series was formed when the MLB created inter-league play in 1997, and the tension between these two teams quickly carried over to the fanbases due to the fact that both stadiums are in New York. The rivalry gained a lot of notoriety, starting with Roger Clemens hitting Mike Piazza in the head with a fastball, which then put Piazza on the disabled list with a concussion. The two players faced each other yet again in the 2000 World Series, when a piece of Piazza's shattered bat nearly hit Clemens on the mound. When Clemens threw the bat at the baseline, both benches cleared, and the play quickly became the pinnacle of this rivalry. The Yankees went on to win the game, as well as the World Series.

48. Harvard-Yale (College Football): Seeing how these two schools are known for their academic prestige, it is surprising that the two football teams have one of the more passionate rivalries in all of college football. With the first game played in 1875, Harvard and Yale have battled it out on the football field 130 times over the years, having been deemed "The Game". The Harvard-Yale rivalry has been full of pranks between either side, including the kidnapping of the Yale bulldog mascot, and Harvard students giving fake tours of the Yale campus. While neither school is able to recruit the elite athletes from around the country, the Harvard-Yale rivalry still manages to attract huge crowds each year.

47. Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding: Many would not associate figure skating with incredibly heated rivalries, but the Kerrigan-Harding duo drew a lot of publicity towards the sport when Harding's husband hired a man to injure Kerrigan before the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championship. Eventually, Harding was forced to plead guilty, leading to her being stripped of her title and suspension for life from the USFA as a skater and coach. The two skaters will forever be associated with one another.

46. Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson (Boxing): Having beaten the heavily favored Mike Tyson in the first meeting, Evander Holyfield stepped into the arena for his second fight against Mike, unknowing of the strange twist that lay ahead. During the third round, Mike bit off part of Holyfield's ear during a clinch, and followed this mind-boggling decision by biting Holyfield's left ear later in the same round. Tyson ended up being disqualified, creating one of the stranger rivalries in all of sports.

45. Larry Bird-Dr. J (Pro Basketball): Larry Bird may have a serious reputation for his trash talking on the court, but the Celtics legend was certainly able to back it up. In a November game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Bird had outscored Philly's Dr. J 42 to 6, and supposedly, Bird continuously reminded Julius Erving with each shot that he made. Eventually the two players got into a shoving match, and both teams stormed onto the court in order to break up the fight. When it was all said and done, Bird and Dr. J were both fined $7,500 for their actions. Seeing how the Celtics had already come back to beat the 76ers in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals, the fight between Bird and Erving shows that there was still tension between these two players.

44. Cubs-White Sox (Pro Baseball): A common pattern that we will see with many of the rivalries on this list is two teams that are based within the same city. The Cubs-White Sox rivalry, known by many nicknames, started in 1906 when the two teams played in the World Series. A notable moment from this rivalry started when White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski ran into Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, and as Pierzynski looked to return to his dugout, Barrett stood in his way, and eventually, Barrett threw a punch. The benches cleared, and Barrett was suspended for 10 games.



43. Knicks-Heat (Pro Basketball): When two teams meet each other in the playoffs for four straight seasons, a sense of bitterness is bound to develop between the two franchises. At one point in time, the Heat and Knicks were in the same division, so playing each other in the postseason four straight times certainly presented an opportunity for revenge. The first time the Heat and Knicks played in the playoffs, Miami coach Pat Riley supposedly asked P.J. Brown to start a fight in the hopes that several Knicks players will be suspended; Brown was successful, where Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson and John Starks were all suspended for one game. The Heat went on to win the series in 7 games. More fights took place between Miami and New York within the next three years, as well as buzzer-beaters, controversial calls, and many, many upsets. The rivalry is not quite the same now that the two teams are in different divisions, but the Knicks-Heat rivalry is one of the best in NBA history.

42. Shaq-Kobe (Pro Basketball): While these two superstars managed to win three consecutive titles while playing for the Lakers, Shaq and Kobe were unable to maintain their relationship, eventually resulting in a trade that sent Shaq to Miami. Despite their success together on the court, Shaq was once quoted as saying, "I have something to say. I think Kobe is playing too selfishly for us to win," yet clearly this was not the main reason behind Shaq's disappointment. The Lakers were winning games at the time, and Kobe began to gain a lot more attention due to his spectacular play, causing Shaq to ask for a trade in 2000 following a blowout win. Eventually, the two were split up, and although both players managed to win championships apart from one another, fans can't help but wonder what could have been if the two players had stayed together.

41. Penguins-Flyers: The Penguins-Flyers matchup is one of the more current rivalries on this list, as both teams have been very legitimate title contenders over the past few years. Having met each other in three of the past six Stanley Cup Playoffs, the in-state rivals clearly do not like one another, as seen with the many fights that take place on the ice. Some of the more memorable moments of this rivalry include a five-overtime game back in the 2000 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, as well as Pittsburgh's 43 game winless streak on the road against Philadelphia.