Rivalries take college football's center stage

The Game and The Big Game, The Battle of the Palmetto State and The Civil War. And don't forget the fight for Paul Bunyan's axe.

It's rivalry week in college football, when games take on a different meaning and winners receive such prizes as the Old Oaken Bucket, the Apple Cup, and a tiny, gold pair of pants. Really.

Two of the biggest rivalries have national championship implications this season, particularly Saturday's game between No. 2 Ohio State (12-0) and visiting No. 12 Michigan (9-2).

Twice in the last seven years Ohio State had title hopes dashed by the Wolverines. If the Buckeyes win, they will secure a spot in the national championship game Jan. 3 in the Fiesta Bowl -- and players will receive a small gold charm in the shape of football pants.

The tradition started in 1934, when first-year Buckeyes coach Francis Schmidt told people asking how Ohio State would fare against its nemesis from Ann Arbor: "They put their pants on one leg at a time just like everybody else."

Schmidt's Buckeyes then defeated Michigan four consecutive times, all shutouts.

"To see those gold pants in your hands, you realize one of your goals was to come to Ohio State and attain one of those," Buckeyes safety Mike Doss said. "You look at it, and it's a symbol of all the hard work that you've gone through."

Also Saturday, No. 3 Washington State (9-1) hosts Washington (6-5) for the Apple Cup. A win gives the Cougars the Pac-10 title, and they could play for the national title if No. 1 Miami or Ohio State slips up. But Washington has won four straight in the series.

The entire Pac-10 schedule this weekend features rivalry games. Oregon State (7-4) hosts Oregon (7-4) in The Civil War, No. 7 Southern California (8-2) plays at No. 25 UCLA (7-3) for The Victory Bell, and California (6-5) hosts Stanford (2-8) in The Big Game.

The Cal-Stanford contest comes on the 20th anniversary of The Play -- when the Bears beat the Cardinal on a game-winning kickoff return that went right through the Stanford band.

Then there are two historic rivalries known simply as The Game: Harvard vs. Yale, and Lehigh vs. Lafayette. The 138th meeting between Lehigh and Lafayette is the longest rivalry in college football, while the 119th meeting between Yale and Harvard is the third longest.

Other big rivalries Saturday include The Iron Bowl between No. 9 Alabama and Auburn, and the 100th edition of The Battle of the Palmetto State between South Carolina and Clemson.

There are two other Big Ten rivalries: Indiana and Purdue play for the Old Oaken Bucket, while Minnesota and Wisconsin play for Paul Bunyan's axe (well, it wasn't really his).

And then there are the new rivalries. The winner of Saturday's inaugural Division I-AA game between Florida Atlantic and Florida International will receive the Don Shula Award, named for the Miami Dolphins' former coach, a Hall of Famer.

Shula was a mentor to FIU coach Don Strock and FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger.

In other Top 25 games, it's No. 24 Texas Tech at No. 4 Oklahoma, Rutgers at No. 8 Notre Dame, Auburn at No. 9 Alabama, No. 10 Kansas State at Missouri, No. 14 Florida State at North Carolina State, Michigan State at No. 15 Penn State, No. 18 Maryland at Virginia, New Mexico at No. 20 Colorado State, Mississippi at No. 21 LSU, No. 22 TCU at East Carolina, and No. 23 Boise State at Nevada.

The rivalry games won't end this weekend. Arizona hosts Arizona State on Nov. 29 for The Territorial Championship Cup. Next week's games also include The Egg Bowl between Mississippi and Mississippi State, No. 6 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, and No. 19 Florida vs. Florida State.

Saturday's game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma is for the Big 12 South title and a spot in the conference championship game against Colorado. Oklahoma (9-1, 5-1) looked like it was in control of the league until it lost to Texas A&M 30-26 behind a shoddy performance from the secondary.

The Sooners gave up four touchdown passes against the Aggies, and now play one of the nation's top quarterbacks in Kliff Kingsbury, who guided the Red Raiders (8-4, 5-2) to a 42-38 upset of Texas last week. Oklahoma has held Texas Tech to 13 points in each of the last two years.

Out West, No. 7 Southern California has won five straight and is off to their best start since 1995. They have won the last three over UCLA, but only once before (1976-79) has USC beaten the Bruins four straight times. This also is the first time since 1993 that both teams have entered the game ranked.

Odds are this could be close. Fifteen of the last 22 USC-UCLA contests have been decided by seven points or less.