So far, Big 12 football has inspired little or no emotion. Rivalries take decades to develop, and the new Big 12 is just a few years old.
Yes, there is the "Holy War'' between BYU and Utah; the "Territorial Cup'' matching Arizona and ASU; “Farmageddon” between Iowa State and Kansas State; and Baylor-TCU’s “Revivalry,” but as far as I can determine, the biggest football rivalry in the new Big 12 is a uniform desire to see money-driven Texas Tech get beat each week.
Arizona wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig tries to take the ASU pitchfork from Arizona State defensive lineman Jacob Rich Kongaika after Kongaika ran out and stabbed the block A following the final whistle in the Sun Devils’ 49-7 win in the 98th Territorial Cup, Nov. 30, 2024.
Half of the Big 12 teams still engage their bitter football rivals, but they are nonconference games, if played at all anymore.
West Virginia and Pitt's game of the year is the Backyard Brawl, though they aren’t slated to face off this year.
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Iowa State and Iowa play one another in the heated Cy-Hawk Trophy game.
Colorado's biggest rival? It's Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown.
Sadly, Oklahoma State's much-anticipated "Bedlam” game against Oklahoma has been put on hold while the rivals are too proud to say they want it to continue.
UCF's biggest rival? It's USF in the "War on I-4.”
Kansas has a terrific rivalry with Kansas State in the "Sunflower Showdown,” but the game of the year is its historic game against Missouri, known as the "Border War.”
TCU and SMU, which share the Dallas college football market, met yearly in the "Battle for the Iron Skillet,” but that has been put on pause.
And isolated Cincinnati has no natural Big 12 rival. Its most anticipated game through the years has been against Miami of Ohio.
Houston? It has bounced around in so many conferences that it doesn't have a big-game rival, unless you count the Bayou Bucket matchup with Rice.
To amplify the problem, all Big 12 teams "miss” six conference teams each season. All play nine-game Big 12 schedules. That's never good.
This year, for example, Arizona and BYU won't play Colorado. ASU won't play Utah. Neither BYU nor Utah will play Texas Tech. Those could be the top three teams in the conference. Again, not good.
College football's money-driven growth of four super conferences has created so much chaos that history has been diminished.
Washington and Washington State still meet in the "Apple Cup,” but now it's the season opener, and it has lost much of its appeal.
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