Rivals Rivalry Week: Prominent programs without a rival

Rivalries are special to college football, but not every team – and many top programs – don’t have a clear-cut rival, especially with many old matchups being broken up because of realignment. Here are 10 schools that fit that bill as Rivals.com Rivalry Week continues.

MORE RIVALRY WEEK: Top coaching rivalries | Best rivalry? | Dead rivalries

The Razorbacks are one of those teams with a bunch of smaller rivalry games but not one of those classic SEC slugfests like LSU, Alabama, Auburn and many other programs. The Arkansas-Ole Miss matchup is definitely an interesting rivalry game, but it’s not as high status as some others in the conference. Arkansas has also had matchups against Texas A&M, Texas, Auburn and Missouri, but none of those really hold the weight of other SEC rivalries.

It could be argued that the Hawkeyes should not be on this list because the Iowa-Iowa State game is definitely a rivalry game, but the two don’t play in the same conference, so it definitely doesn’t carry the weight of some other big-league rivalry matchups. Iowa also plays for the Heartland Trophy against Wisconsin, but is anyone other than those two fan bases rushing to the television to see that matchup every season?

The Spartans play Penn State for a trophy, Rutgers for a trophy and Michigan for a trophy, but even the Spartans, with all the in-state implications, are not Michigan’s main rival. The Michigan-Michigan State matchup is always closely watched, especially by in-state and regional recruits, but let’s be honest: Michigan’s main rival is Ohio State.

Missouri has a bunch of fringe rivalries, but which team is its true rival? It’s easy to answer for USC, Ohio State, Alabama and many other teams. But the Tigers have had rivalry contests against Kansas (Border War), Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arkansas through the years. Now in the SEC East, there is no natural rival for Missouri and the Tigers are still finding their way in the new conference. Maybe something could spark up in the coming years, especially if Missouri returns to the top of its division.

The Huskers are starting to renew a rivalry with Iowa, which could get even more interesting in the coming years, especially if both teams continue their rise in the Big Ten West, but it’s still a stretch to believe they’re mortal enemies like Alabama-Auburn or Ohio State-Michigan. Nebraska used to have an incredible rivalry game with Oklahoma, but that stopped in 2010.

The Penn State-Ohio State and the Penn State-Michigan games are always closely watched and it makes more sense that the Nittany Lions are natural rivals with Rutgers or Maryland in the conference, but none of those games really stand alone as outright rivalry games. Penn State and Michigan State play for the Land Grant Trophy but, come on, it’s still a stretch to consider the two rivals.

Pitt is desperately trying to make Penn State its rival again and it makes sense with so many in-state and recruiting implications, but the Nittany Lions have done their best to downplay that matchup and focus on bigger Big Ten fish. The Panthers beat Penn State this season, their first meeting since 2000. The Pitt-Penn State rivalry could be renewed, but can it be an active one if the players in the game were toddlers the last time the two teams played before this year?

The Volunteers have a bunch of important games, especially in the SEC East and they consider Florida their main rival in the division, but that is probably a stretch since the Gators have Georgia and Florida State as their top two rivals. Tennessee and Alabama used to have some cache, and the teams still play every year despite being in different divisions. But the Tide have won 10 in a row, with seven coming by at least 20 points, so the Third Saturday in October has lost a little luster.

With Texas A&M moving to the SEC and its game against traditional rival Texas not on any future schedules, there are no in-conference that make sense for the Aggies. Texas A&M's rivalry against Arkansas seems to be getting renewed and others could pop up – namely with LSU – in the powerful SEC West. The Aggies still don't have an active rivalry that has consistently gone back many years like other top series. For the Arkansas matchup, there was a gap between 1991-2009 and a similar time gap with LSU, which has dominated that rivalry in recent years,

The Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pitt used to be a great college football rivalry because the two schools, while in different states, are only 75 miles away down Interstate 79. But the two schools have not met since 2011, so the rivalry has taken a hiatus at least and really awesome rivalries are played every single season. West Virginia is in a difficult spot in the Big 12, too, since there aren’t natural rivals with the conference dominated by teams in the Heartland.