Ranking The 25 Best Rivalries in College Baseball

1. Mississippi vs. Mississippi State

The Egg Bowl rivalry is one of the best in college sports in general, but it has been particularly spicy on the baseball diamond of late, as both programs have produced teams with genuine College World Series aspirations time and time again. The in-state rivalry in one of the most rabid college baseball states in the nation never disappoints. In addition to their annual SEC series, the teams play a midweek game for the Governor’s Cup in Jackson.

2. Cal State Fullerton vs. Long Beach State

This rivalry runs so hot that an annual weekend series between the two teams isn’t enough. Instead, they play two weekend series—one that counts in the Big West standings and one that is officially a nonconference set. The rivalry had a recent peak in 2017 when the Titans and Dirtbags faced off in the Long Beach Super Regional in front of raucous crowds and with a trip to Omaha on the line. 

3. Clemson vs. South Carolina

The state of South Carolina loves its college baseball, and that passion gets expressed in how it supports the annual early-season series between its two biggest programs. Since 2010, the series has featured one game at each home park with a third game played at a neutral site, giving fans across the entirety of the state a chance to see one of the best rivalries in the sport. 

4. Florida vs. Florida State vs. Miami

Although Florida has dominated this three-way rivalry in the Sunshine State lately, this has everything you want when looking at the best rivalries in college baseball. Allegiances are mixed all throughout the state, it’s three of the most storied programs in the sport and they often have to go through each other on the path to the CWS. 

5. Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State

Bedlam runs hot on the diamond, just like it does in every sport Oklahoma and Oklahoma State compete in. Fans have turned out for neutral site showdowns in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but in recent years the two teams have returned their weekend series to campus, splitting the three games between Norman and Stillwater.

6. Louisiana State vs. Mississippi State

Two of the most notoriously rabid fanbases in college baseball. Two cathedrals in Alex Box Stadium and Dudy Noble Field. Two of the most storied programs in the country. Every time these two teams play a series, it’s appointment viewing, a major social event in the city in which the games are being played and a pivotal series in the SEC standings. 

7. North Carolina vs. North Carolina State

The greater sports world is familiar with UNC’s rivalry with Duke on the hardwood. But on the diamond, it’s the series between the Tar Heels and Wolfpack that is the most compelling. The two fan bases plain don’t like each other and they pack Boshamer Stadium and Doak Park for this one. The rivals took it to another level in 2013 when they faced each other twice in the CWS.

8. Southern California vs. UCLA

Separated by about 10 miles in Los Angeles, the Trojans and Bruins have one of the Pac-12’s best rivalries. Their weekend series carries the conference title-race implications, but the tradition of their annual game to close the Dodger Stadium Classic adds something extra to the rivalry. Playing a Sunday afternoon game at Dodger Stadium at the conclusion of a premier nonconference tournament, the two teams both bring strong crowds, pep bands and a lively atmosphere.

9. Army vs. Navy

This is one of college sports’ greatest rivalries, no matter the sport. The stakes on the diamond have been raised recently, as the two programs have emerged as the two best in the Patriot League. Now, not only do their weekend series have significant implications on the conference standings, they have faced off in the Patriot League Tournament championship series in back-to-back years with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. Their regular season meetings are also rising in prominence, as they have played in Camden Yards and Fenway Park in recent seasons, while a meeting at Citizens Bank Park in 2020 had to be canceled. 

10. Texas vs. Texas A&M

The games between Texas and Texas A&M may not be a conference matchup anymore, but the teams on the diamond have done a better job of scheduling each other and keeping the rivalry going than in other sports, even if it is just a single midweek game each season. There’s no love lost between these two programs and fan bases. 

11. Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

The three games between rivals Georgia and Georgia Tech used to take place over three midweek games, but in 2020, it was played as a weekend series and there is hope among both sides that it continues that way into the future. The Bulldogs have won 11 of the last 12 games in the rivalry, but the Yellow Jackets have program momentum right now and will look to tilt things back in their direction in the years to come. 

12. Louisiana State vs. Tulane

LSU’s rivalries with SEC foes are more well-known nationally, but among the baseball diehards in the state of Louisiana, the rivalry between the Tigers and the Green Wave will always be special. Although the teams continue to play games annually, the rivalry ran hottest back in the early 2000s, with Tulane’s super regional win over LSU in 2001 in front of capacity crowds at Zephyr Field serving as perhaps the most memorable meeting during that era. 

13. Houston vs. Rice

Known as the Silver Glove Series, Houston and Rice annually compete for supremacy in the city of Houston, even as they now find themselves in different conferences, just as they did prior to Rice joining Conference USA in 2005. This rivalry reached a fever pitch in the early 2000s, when Houston eliminated Rice in a regional in 2000, the teams were one Houston win away from both getting to the CWS in 2002 and the Owls took down the Cougars in a super regional in 2003. 

14. Texas A&M vs. Texas Christian 

While Texas A&M and TCU were conference foes in the Southwest Conference days, the rivalry between the two on the diamond really came into its own in 2015 and 2016, when the Horned Frogs got to the CWS twice at the Aggies’ expense in two of the most hotly contested super regional series in recent memory. Now, anytime the teams square off, it makes for appointment viewing.

15. Arizona vs. Arizona State

The rivalry known as the Territorial Cup on the football field is a storied one on the diamond as well. Arizona State is one of the most successful college baseball programs of all time, but somewhat quietly, Arizona is on the short list as well. And as much criticism as the West Coast gets sometimes for not having fanbases as engaged as those in other regions of the country, fans of the Sun Devils and Wildcats take their baseball very seriously. 

16. Michigan vs. Ohio State

The rivalry between these two Big Ten powerhouses didn’t need any help in earning its place among the best to be had in the Midwest, but it certainly did help that Michigan and Ohio State (along with Minnesota) ran the Big Ten from the 1960s up until the 2000s, when the conference got much more competitive from top to bottom. Since 1960, the Wolverines have the edge over the Buckeyes in terms of Big Ten championships—14 to 11—and they currently have the upper hand with their run to within one game of a national title in 2019. But Ohio State has gotten the better in head-to-head matchups lately—the Buckeyes are 15-5 against the Wolverines over the last decade.

17. Florida vs. Vanderbilt

The Gators and Commodores aren’t natural rivals but after a decade of competing at the top of the SEC East, their annual series carries strong weight year after year. Add in the connection between coaches Kevin O’Sullivan and Tim Corbin, who worked together on Jack Leggett’s staff at Clemson, and the ingredients for a strong rivalry have taken root.

18. Creighton vs. Nebraska

It’s no surprise that fans in the College World Series’ home state love college baseball and these two programs produce a great in-state rivalry. Their midweek showdowns are annually among the best attended in the country and their 2019 meeting at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha drew more than 10,000 fans. With both programs competing for NCAA Tournament berths, it’s hard to ask for more.

19. Louisville vs. Vanderbilt

The Battle of the Barrel is one of the few trophy games in college baseball. The trophy is still pretty new—it began in 2012, though the two programs have been playing each other for much longer—but the program’s near parallel rise to college baseball’s elite have helped fuel the rivalry. While it hasn’t had some of the historical juice of other premier rivalries on the list, the two team’s meeting in the 2019 CWS may help build that history as the close elimination game got tense late.

20. Arkansas vs. Louisiana State

When you’ve been at the top of the mountain in college baseball as long as LSU has, you’re going to have accumulated some intense rivalries, and while it may count Mississippi State and Tulane as bigger rivals on the diamond, there’s no doubting the intensity of its games against Arkansas. Like the games between LSU and MSU, there always seems to be so much on the line when LSU and Arkansas get together, and that’s going to make them must-watch events. The series also helped produce the legend of the Rally Possum.

21. Central Florida vs. South Florida

The best rivalries crop up naturally when two teams occupy a similar place in the pecking order and have very similar goals. Most such rivalries developed decades ago as college athletics were growing into what we know them to be today, but the rivalry between UCF and USF, known as the War on I-4, is a newcomer to the fray. Both schools have scrapped in their relatively short histories to grow their athletic departments into successful Division I operations, and while the pair will always be in the shadow of powers Florida, Florida State and Miami in their own state, there is value in being the best Florida team outside of those three, and in a good conference like the American, that’s good enough to be a perennial postseason team and one with a shot to get to the CWS. 

22. Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford

This rivalry has a historical component to it, as both are national title-winning programs that are also among the most successful on the West Coast. Additionally, lately the teams have played a season-opening nonconference series, and there’s also some recent history at play. In 2017 and 2018, Cal State Fullerton traveled to Stanford for regionals and ousted the host Cardinal. 

23. Louisville vs. Kentucky

For a long time, this intense rivalry that played out annually on the basketball court and to a lesser degree on the football field wasn’t given much of a chance to take off on the diamond. Louisville didn’t have much history of success until Dan McDonnell arrived and Kentucky’s history has always been marked by ups and downs. But perhaps improved fortunes for both parties, and more specifically, the 2017 Louisville Super Regional between the teams, will spark something greater in this rivalry. 

24. St. John’s vs. Seton Hall

The Big East has spurred many rivalries among its original members over the years. On the diamond, this one stands out the most. Separated by less than an hour, they have a long, storied history. They have been among the conference’s best teams for the last four decades and have had luminaries such as Frank Viola and Mo Vaughn play for them. There’s plenty of spice to this Northeast rivalry. 

25. Alabama vs. Auburn

Sure, you think football when you think about the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn, but the intensity is there when these two teams meet, no matter the sport. Plus, there is potential for this rivalry to go to the next level in the years to come. Auburn has been on the rise for several years under Butch Thompson, highlighted by a trip to the CWS in 2019, and Alabama now has a young team that looks poised to make a leap soon.