Rivalry week in college football gives us games that we have come to expect for generations upon generations. Georgia will play Georgia Tech. Alabama will play Auburn, and Oregon will play Oregon State. We get the big game between Cal and Stanford, and we get to see USC play UCLA. Mini rivalries that are starting the season include games such as Penn State-Pitt, and we should welcome as many little rivalries as we can find.
Pitt usually plays WVU
Pitt usually plays WVU in the backyard brawl, and they travel across the little sliver of West Virginia where the Mountaineers play to battle each other.
These two teams love to hate each other, but Pitt can travel across Pennsylvania to Happy Valley where they can play another rival who is worthy of their time. Penn State was independent for some time, and they had many special games in their schedule that no longer exist. Adding a mini rivalry will help improve the profile of the program after the scandal that rocked the Nittany Lions.
Oklahoma and Ohio State
Oklahoma is going up to Columbus, and they could start a new rivalry with Ohio State that might be fiery and exciting to watch. These two teams are not familiar with one another right now, but they could leave their first rivalry game with a renewed hatred that will fuel this game for many years to come.
Lincoln Riley needs a signature game on his schedule that is not against Texas and Oklahoma State, and he may have found it in this interesting matchup with Ohio State.
Playoff implications
Playoff implications in these mini rivalries are spread everywhere because Penn State won the Big 10 title last year, Oklahoma could go to the playoff, and Ohio State wants to go back to the playoff once again.
A mini rivalry that is early in the season may not completely ruin someone's season, but it might be the game that is used to push them out of the CFP when the committee wants to make its decision.
The networks can make more
CBS, ABC, and ESPN can make as many rivalries as they want if they find more compelling matchups for us to watch.
They must give us as many good games as possible because the middle of the college football season features conference games we have seen a thousand times over. It may be interesting to watch a team like Oklahoma go up to Ann Arbor to play Michigan, or we may want to see Miami travel to LA to play USC. There are many options for the diehard football fan, and we must lobby for as many good games as we can get.
