Embrace the Hate: Rivalry Week Preview

In partnership with

Good morning and welcome back to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. 

“I already know what hell is like. I once coached at Ole Miss.” That is, of course, a famous quote from C.R. "Dudy" Noble, who was a four-sport star at Mississippi State in the 1910s but coached Ole Miss baseball for a few years before returning to Starksville. It’s Rivalry Week in college football, which just so happens to line up with one of the best weekends of the year. Instead of the normal previewing of matchups, we’re going to go through the rivalry games and spotlight some of the most absurd, batshit, and illegal acts these rivalries bring out between players and fans. Happy Holidays!

Friday Rivalry Games

The Egg Bowl - #7 Ole Miss @ Mississippi State - Noon on ABC

I don’t even know where to start with the Egg Bowl. Thanks to this great Twitter thread by CFB reporter Ross Dellenger, I could pick between fans storming the field and beating each other with chairs, Dave Cutcliffe pretending to throw a Mississippi State fan to his death, the infamous 2019 dog piss game, or this one where Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is probably leaving for LSU on Saturday and might tank Ole Miss chances at the playoffs during their best season since pre-integration. And yet, I’ll leave you with this grainy footage of a massive brawl which led to broken jaws, helmets thrown, and throats kicked before the 1997 Egg Bowl.

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate - #4 Georgia v #23 Georgia Tech - 3:30pm on ABC

I think a common theme in all of these entries will be “where do I even start with this one?” Is it the story of UGA removing gold as their official school color, only for Tech to don it to spite Georgia? Or Georgia throwing a parade for the explicit purpose of mocking Georgia Tech for continuing their football program during World War I? Nay, It’s this 33-year-old Harvard Medical School graduate and Apache War veteran Leonard Wood who scored 3 touchdowns for Tech in the first ever meeting between the schools. UGA fans were so mad Tech ‘cheated’ by using this guy, a mob chased him through the streets of Athens, throwing rocks and mud until he hopped on a freight train to Atlanta. Georgia fans later asked Wood to transfer to Georgia before their big game against Vandy. He rebuffed, left college, and would later become the Army Chief of Staff. 

Old Oaken Bucket - #2 Indiana @ Purdue - 7:30pm on NBC

I am sure my late grandfather (Purdue graduate) would’ve had some content for this one, but for legal reasons, I might not be able to publish it. But in 1958, a few IU frat bros got drunk one day and decided to steal the bucket from Purdue, mainly because they hadn’t won it in over a decade and wanted to see it. After returning to campus, they stuffed it in a washing machine, then called the newspaper because they were annoyed Purdue hadn’t noticed or reported it missing yet, and then did some CIA-level hostage exchange with the bucket a few weeks later and almost got the you know what beat out of them by Purdue students in the process.

Lone Star Showdown - #3 Texas A&M @ #16 Texas - 7:30pm on ESPN

A rare rivalry that has been reignited thanks to conference realignment. There’s been all sorts of political infighting that’s happened over the past decade since TAMU left for the SEC and Texas’s subsequent move to the conference. Regardless, this great rivalry is back, and needless to say, these fanbases detest each other. In 1917, Texas A&M Cadets found the original Bevo mascot and branded 13-0 on the steer, which was the score TAMU won by two years prior. Poor Bevo was barbecued a few years later, but damn, I bet he tasted good. This archive is wild and too long for 4&F, but worth a read. There are stories of Bevo and Reveille kidnappings, gasoline being dumped from airplanes to try and light TAMU’s bonfire early, and chemicals being dumped in both stadiums to spell TU and A&M.

Territorial Cup - #25 Arizona @ #20 Arizona State - 9pm on FOX

The oldest trophy in college football belongs to this rivalry out in the desert, dating back to 1899, before Arizona was even a state. Even though there have been two fights in the last three years between the players (here and here), I couldn’t find an SEC-level story on the hatred between these two schools but I went down a Reddit rabbit hole, so I’ll let them do the work for me. 

“If you want a shitty version of El Paso with literally no redeeming qualities, Tucson is your place!”

“For the record PHOENIX HAS LITTLE BITCH MOUNTAINS”

“They are degenerate, illiterate, party-hungry frat boys and fake-boobed co-eds with loose morals.” 

“That could honestly describe either school” referencing the comment above

Saturday Rivalry Games

The Game - #1 Ohio State @ #15 Michigan - Noon on FOX

I think it’d be a cop out to simply mention the fight last year after this matchup, which led to the cops pepper-spraying players and coaches after a fight over Michigan planting their flag at midfield of The Horseshoe. Unfortunately, in the public domain of the internet, there aren’t too many stories I could find of fans fighting, but I’m sure they exist. In an effort to show the level of pettiness in this rivalry, like Ohio State marking M’s with red x’s throughout campus the week of the game, here’s a story about Peter Fletcher. He worked for the Michigan State Highway Commission and when the 1978 map was made, he included fake towns of beatosu and goblu in Ohio. He sent copies of these maps to Woody Hayes. “There’s nothing inaccurate in putting a message of great national import on the map,” Fletcher said. 

Governor's Cup - Kentucky @ Louisville - Noon on ACC Network

While I could write a thesis on the basketball version of this rivalry, in football, these teams have only met 36 times since 1912. Kentucky refused to play Louisville for 70 years and the rivalry was only resumed in 1994 because Louisville agreed to Kentucky’s demands that the first four games be played in Lexington. Kentucky wears the pants in this relationship. 

Palmetto Bowl - Clemson @ South Carolina - Noon on SEC Network

There are readers of this newsletter who are Clemson fans and refuse to go to the game when it’s played at South Carolina because of how nasty the fans are…and they live in Columbia. This might be a pot calling the kettle black situation because in 1902, Clemson fans marched on South Carolina’s campus with cadets and rifles. This was in response to South Carolina students parading a poster through the town, which depicted a gamecock whipping a tiger. Then there’s the 1961 prank where UofSC fraternity guys snuck onto the field dressed as Clemson players and did ballerina routines during warmups. Lastly, there’s the all-out brawl during the 2004 which led to Lou Holtz’s firing and a gruesome photo of a Clemson player kicking a South Carolina player in the head you can look up on your own time.

Cascade Clash - #6 Oregon @ Washington - 3:30pm on CBS

One of the worst names for a rivalry I’ve heard but that doesn’t mean there isn’t vitriol here. It started in 1948 when Oregon and Cal were tied atop the Pac-12 standings and the member schools voted on who to send to the Rose Bowl. Washington broke ranks with the rest of the PNW schools and voted for Cal, who ended up winning the vote. Washington claims Oregon threw dog urine and feces on them during their 1999 visit to Autzen. My vote for the craziest game here is 1962 when Oregon was driving for a game-winning score late in the 4th quarter but a pass was broken up by Washington fans hanging out in the endzone.

#14 Vanderbilt @ #19 Tennessee - 3:30pm on ESPN

I don’t think there’s an official name here, and if there is, I’m sure it’s pretty lame. Historically, this rivalry is also lame given Vanderbilt is 33-79 against the Vols all-time. However, they were a powerhouse in the pre-war era. Vanderbilt started 11-0-1 in this rivalry, but after UT’s first win in 1914, the Vandy yearbook noted how the team had sunk to the “lowest depth of the awful valley of the conquered” and their championship hotels were as far away “as Satan is from the heavenly regions.” Rational. 

Paul Bunyan's Axe - Wisconsin @ Minnesota - 3:30pm on FS1

The most played rivalry in the nation, with a meeting every year since 1890, sans 1906 when Teddy Roosevelt suspended CFB due to safety concerns, nerd! These two teams used to play for the Slab of Bacon, but it went missing for 50 years until it was found in a Wisconsin storage closet. Seems difficult to lose something but have the wherewithal to inscribe the scores of the game on the trophy every year, as someone at Wisconsin had done. Now we have the axe, and it rocks. 

Sunshine Showdown - Florida State @ Florida - 4:30pm on ESPN2

Another game that resulted in a fight last year after Florida tried to plant their flag at Doak-Campbell Stadium. Like Kentucky-Louisville, this rivalry was reluctantly agreed to by Florida, as they didn’t view Florida State as a worthy opponent, and their theoretical success could siphon away government funds. The first six games were all played in Gainesville, and then Bobby Bowden arrived and wiped the floor with the Gators. Horrible name, cool rivalry. 

Commonwealth Cup - Virginia Tech @ #18 Virginia - 7pm on ESPN

This ‘rivalry’ has been played over 100 times, but until recently, these programs didn’t view each other as true rivals. In the early days, Virginia cared more about their rivalry with UNC while Virginia Tech viewed VMI (Go Keydets) as its rival and always played on Thanksgiving Day. Overall, it’s pretty boring, but UVA refused to play the Hokies for 18 years in the early 1900s after accusing a VT player of being paid, which he refused. The player sued the UVA paper for libel but we should note he played CFB for eight years after transferring from Va Tech to UNC.

Iron Bowl - #10 Alabama @ Auburn - 7:30pm on ABC

I think it’s fair to officially designate Abraham Lincoln as the father of college football rivalries. I’m sure when he signed the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, he didn’t consider the ripple effects it’d have through the college football landscape. This law is the impetus of numerous rivalries on this list, like the Egg Bowl, but the most important one is the Iron Bowl. We all know the story of Harvey Updyke poisoning the Toomer’s Corner trees, but I’d be doing the readers a disservice if I stopped there. These two storied programs didn’t even play from 1907-1948 because after the 1907 game, there was a brawl between the fans that was so bloody and gruesome that the series was cancelled. That’s somewhat disputed, and even efforts to revive the rivalry by newspapers, Kiwanis Clubs, and the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation were unsuccessful. Imagine that. 

UNC @ NC State - 7:30pm on ACC Network

An unnamed rivalry but hell on earth between these two fanbases. Duke-UNC takes up all the basketball oxygen but there’s a reason UNC plays State on Thanksgiving weekend and not Duke. Oh look, there’s another fight from last year. Here’s what Philip Rivers had to say on this rivalry. "You might not hear much about that game around the country, and that's fine. But if you ever walk into a bar anywhere in the state of North Carolina and you see a guy in khakis and his Carolina polo staring at a guy in his jeans and an NC State T-shirt, clear the room, because it's about to go down." We expect this year to be the same. 

Did we miss a famous story or anecdote? Let us know via email or in the comments on our website. 

Want to support our work? The easiest thing you can do is click this ad. You can also Venmo us, but this is pretty much the same thing.

Glow through the holidays with 24-hour hydration

This season, give your skin and body the gift of true balance. Cooler weather, busy days, and holiday indulgence can leave you depleted—but Pique’s Deep Hydration Protocol restores hydration, calm, and radiance from the inside out.

Each morning, B·T Fountain floods your skin with clinically proven ceramides and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid for deep, lasting hydration and all-day glow. Each night, R·E Fountain melts away stress with Pique’s Triple Biomaxed™ Magnesium—calming the mind and supporting deep, restorative sleep. Together, they deliver round-the-clock hydration, balance, and renewal you can feel.

This is more than skincare—it’s a daily ritual for beauty, energy, and wellbeing.

Now through December 1, enjoy 20% off sitewide for life plus a free Indulgence Edit Gift Set when you spend $250.

✨ Hydrate. Restore. Glow.

Get 20% off site wide + $200 of free gifts

OnlyRans

Week 12: 8-3 // Season Record: 54-60 (47%)

“The lock machine rolls on as we’ve got a plethora of picks for you this weekend. Fade me at your own risk, peon.” -OnlyRans circa two weeks ago. Am I going to gloat incessantly about one good week picking games? Hell yeah, I am. I’m indomitable, divine, inevitable, and of course, humble. 

North Texas -20.5 v Temple: North Texas needs to win to secure their AAC Championship berth and has been a wagon for me. They have the #1 scoring offense in the nation and are facing a 5-6 Temple team. 

Iowa -6.5 @ Nebraska: Nebraska is on their backup QB and just lost 37-10 to Penn State. I don’t care that it’s Iowa’s offense (maybe I should) but I’m the one on a winning streak here. Listen to me!

Mississippi State +7.5 v #7 Ole Miss: Maybe I’m rooting for carnage or some weird Egg Bowl hex. Or maybe I’ll just be damn impressed if Ole Miss doesn’t let the Lane drama distract them during their most important game of the year. Ole Miss was on a very poorly timed bye last week, given the circumstances, and MSU needs this for bowl eligibility. Clanga!

Kansas +11.5 v #13 Utah: Kansas needs a win or else this is QB Jalon Daniels' swan song. Utah got exposed at home by Kansas State last week but barely escaped despite giving up 474 rushing yards. This is too many points for the Utes, who aren’t in the friendly confines of Rice-Eccles this weekend. 

#3 Texas A&M -2.5 @ #16 Texas: I’m not believing the Arch is here hype given he’s looked good against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt (ok that’s fair), but awful against Georgia. Texas A&M is too good and Elko’s defense will be ready.

Kentucky +3.5 @ Louisville: What the hell is going on in Louisville? They’ve lost three straight,  benched QB Miller Moss against Clemson, and he was out last game due to a ‘weight-room incident’. This wouldn’t have to do with him calling out his team for having a culture issue, would it? This is a dumpster fire and has a UK win written all over it. 

Boston College -3 @ Syracuse: I do not know what Tate is smoking (below) because even if you were invested why would you watch this game? Syracuse is playing a former walk-on at QB and hasn’t won a game since September. 

Missouri -2.5 @ Arkansas and Over 57.5: Never mind Arkansas trying to look good under interim Bobby Petrino, they haven’t even won a game. Mizzou’s starting QB is back, and both teams are going to try and blow the other team out here.

Wisconsin +1.5 @ Minnesota: I don’t think the computers have caught up to the midseason resurgence by the Badgers (two wins over top 25 teams) since announcing Fickell will be back next year. Minnesota has backslidden and looked like trash since the same point in time. 

Penn State -13.5 @ Rutgers: Penn State’s interim coach, Terry Smith, is trying to get the full-time gig (he won’t get it), but he has the team one win away from bowl eligibility. But maybe he should? Aside from a 24-point loss to Ohio State, he’s 2-3 with the three losses coming by a combined 5 points.

Florida -1.5 v Florida State: The Noles haven’t won a game away from Doak-Campbell since 2023. That’s 10 in a row for those keeping track at home.

Hawai’i  -8.5 v Wyoming: Hawai’i is a wagon and 7-4. Wyoming is a loser of 3 straight and 4-7. Hawai’i is at home and scores a lot. Wyoming does not and sucks. 

Tate’s Great Picks

Week 12: 3-7 // Season Record: 33-44 (43%)

Ole Miss -7.5 @ Mississippi State: Call me crazy, but I think this line tanking downwards in response to the Lane drama is a big overreaction. Trinidad Chambliss and his squad might score on every possession here - Rebs cruise in Lane’s Oxford swan song.

Georgia -13.5 “@” Georgia Tech: I hate Georgia Tech and I love free money.

Pittsburgh +6.5 vs Miami: Miami needs to win a huge game, away from home, in the cold, in November, and you’re giving me 6.5 points? Don’t mind if I do!

Syracuse +3 vs Boston College: We’ve got a home dog here against a 1-10 team, but I’m really putting this here because this might be the most ass P4 vs P4 game in the history of the sport and dammit I need to be invested.

Vanderbilt +2.5 @ Tennessee: DIEGOOOOOOO PAVIAAAAAAAA.

Oklahoma -10 vs LSU, Under 36.5: Is this an insane combination of things to bet on? Yes, but this has Oklahoma 20 - LSU 3 written all over it.

Virginia Tech +9.5 @ Virginia: Virginia is 9-2 and #19 in the country with an outside shot at the playoff, while Virginia Tech is 3-8, fired its coach and getting smacked around by everybody. This is the most obvious Virginia Tech win in the history of this rivalry.

Auburn +6 vs Alabama: Night game at Jordan Hare + Auburn devil magic.

Wake Forest & Georgia

#4 Georgia (8-1) “@” #23 Georgia Tech (9-2): UGA -13.5, O/U 59.5 - Friday 3:30pm ET ABC

Georgia Tech’s 8-0 start had everyone in the state believing we were headed for the most legendary Georgia/Georgia Tech game in decades. And then Tech got blown out by NC State in a game in which its defense could not get a stop. Then Tech almost lost to 1-8 Boston College in a game in which its defense could not get a stop. And then they lost to Pitt in a game in which its defense could not get a stop. To put it simply, I am not feeling super confident that Georgia Tech’s defense is going to get many stops here…

…Especially considering how well Gunner Stockton and the offense have been playing recently. I’d say it’s unlikely that Gunner ends up in New York as a Heisman finalist as it stands today, but he damn sure deserves to be. The running game continues to absolutely roll behind an offensive line that has turned into one of the best in the country, Zach Branch continues to be incredible, and Noah Thomas has broken out in a big way after taking over for the injured Colbie Young. I really don’t have much to say here - we are going to score a bunch of points on Saturday.

But what this game is really all about is on the other side of the ball. I never want to see anyone get hurt, but this is a matter beyond anyone’s control: Haynes King’s destiny is to explode into one million pieces in his final regular season game. The 14th-year senior has spent the last decade hobbling his half-broken body all over the field on his way to five touchdown performances. This (formerly) young man has made fans watching on TV wonder how he could possibly still be standing on like thirteen different occasions over the past couple of years. It is only right, in the eyes of God, that he has his leg torn off by Raylen Wilson while Joenel Aguero sends his helmet into the 32nd row, either containing or not containing his head - followed, of course, by Haynes King finishing the play with a 14-yard touchdown run. He must literally explode on the field to fulfill his destiny.

In all seriousness, even as a Georgia fan, I will enjoy getting to see that kid close out his career by giving it his all. He and his offense have been far from the problem at any point this season, and I’m sure that Tech will score a few points here. But this young Dawgs defense is rounding into form at the exact wrong time, and Tech is not built to come back if they get down early. Georgia fans, if you’re on the fence about going to this game, I recommend it. It’ll be a unique moment looking back and remembering the time we played at Mercedes, and you’ll get to watch the Dawgs kick the shit out of Georgia Tech during their best season in well over a decade. How Bout Em.

Wake Forest (8-3) @ Duke (6-5): DUKE -1.5, O/U 54.5 - Saturday 3:30pm ET ACC Network

We’re running long here (for good reason imo) so I’ll keep this short and actually…not really about the game. Duke’s QB Darian Mensah is one of the best QBs in the nation, but Duke’s defense has been surprisingly porous this season. Somehow, Duke is still in the ACC Championship picture but they need a lot of help. Duke needs to win this, Pitt and Virginia to lose, UNC to win, Nvidia’s stock to go up by 2% by EOM, 51% of the children born on Saturday to be boys, and a tame La Nina season. If Duke turns this into a track meet, I don’t think Wake can keep up unless Duke’s D is really that bad. However, I be surprised if Wake’s D lets them down. Dickert acknowledged the lack of focus heading into the FSU debacle, and I don’t think that happens again.

Speaking of Dickert, what a damn coach. Picked preseason as the second-worst team in the conference. Wake’s Vegas win total was 4.5. They have 2 wins over top 25 teams, beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg for the first time since 1983, and should’ve beaten Georgia Tech (also ranked) if it weren’t for a missed call the ACC refs acknowledged. I’m not assigning asterisk’s and I’m also not caring. The hope was to get to a bowl, and now we’re flirting with a 10-win season. Duke, State, and UNC have done it once this century. If we get there, that’ll be Wake’s third time, all under different coaches.

Dickert’s done it with a mixture of Clawson holdovers, his guys from Wazzu, and a bunch of other transfer portal dudes, and he currently has the 2026 recruiting class skyrocketing up the rankings. I’m sure Currie is already drafting a contract extension for him, and I hope we can keep him as long as we are able to. Will he flirt with other jobs? Of course. Clawson almost went to Virginia Tech and interviewed at Auburn. Grobe accepted a head job at Arkansas before changing his mind. It’s an unheard-of success rate on coaches and 11 games in, Dickert is on his way to making a triumvirate of HOF coaches for Wake this century. Rebuilding year this, Year 0 that. This season has been awesome, and kicking the shit out of Duke would be gravy - no pun intended - Go Deacs.

Where in the World are We?

Tate: I will be somewhere within Mercedes-Benz Stadium for approximately one thousand American dollars due to the most confusing game deal I have seen all year. Tech sold this game for $10M and had starting ticket prices set at astronomical numbers. Regardless, through all of the Sugar Bowls, Peach Bowls, Rose Bowls, World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party’s, Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry’s that I’ve attended - I’m not sure any of them have excited me quite as much as the Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic.

Rand: I will be somewhere within Wallace-Wade Stadium for approximately twenty-seven American dollars and fifty cents. Go Deacs.

Follow us on Twitter: @4thandforever_

Thanks for reading 4th & Forever. Feel free to forward this to friends & family and if you have comments or suggestions on the newsletter, please let us know. We really appreciate any and all feedback on this endeavor. Check out our website by going to 4thandforevercfb.com where you can drop us suggestions, read and comment on previous newsletters, and argue with us and other readers.

Rand & Tate met a few years ago through a mutual friend who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent the last few years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest, and currently pays rent in Charlotte, but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.