TicketCity Claims Alabama vs. LSU Top Rivalry In 2013 - Here Are The Top 25
College football fans love to debate the best rivalries in the game - both past and present. Many think that "The Game" (Ohio State vs. Michigan) is easily the top matchup to attend each year, while others might choose the "Iron Bowl" (Alabama vs. Auburn) or "The Red River Rivalry" (Texas vs. Oklahoma) instead. TicketCity.com put together a study to try to determine which 2013 matchup is the biggest rivalry game of them all - and the result might surprise you.
First, here are the metrics used for the rankings:
- Attendance
- Stadium Capacity Filled
- Ticket Demand
- In-State Rivalry
- Intra-Conference Rivalry
- Trophy Awarded
- Claimed National Championships (both teams)
- Conference Championships (both teams)
- Heisman Trophy Recipients (both teams)
- Date of First Meeting
- Total Games Played
- Average Point Differential (Past Decade)
- Appearances in AP Regular Season Poll (both teams)
And now, the results. That's right - according to TicketCity, Alabama vs. LSU is the top rivalry game of 2013. Something tells me the folks in Ann Arbor and Columbus might not agree.
Rivalry Game | Overall Score |
1. Alabama vs. LSU | 100.00 |
2. Michigan vs. Ohio State | 99.50 |
3. Notre Dame vs. USC | 96.00 |
4. Oklahoma vs. Texas | 93.43 |
5. Alabama vs. Auburn | 93.35 |
6. Michigan State vs. Michigan | 93.01 |
7. Army vs. Navy | 86.52 |
8. LSU vs. Texas A&M | 86.23 |
9. Alabama vs. Tennessee | 86.00 |
10. Michigan vs. Notre Dame | 82.50 |
11. Florida vs. Georgia | 81.03 |
12. Georgia vs. Georgia Tech | 80.81 |
13. Auburn vs. Georgia | 80.66 |
14. LSU vs. Ole Miss | 79.31 |
15. Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State | 77.75 |
16. Oregon vs. Oregon State | 77.31 |
17. Florida vs. LSU | 76.32 |
18. Alabama vs. Ole Miss | 75.97 |
19. Michigan State vs. Notre Dame | 75.14 |
20. Minnesota vs. Wisconsin | 74.50 |
21. Ohio State vs. Penn State | 73.53 |
22. UCLA vs. USC | 73.45 |
23. California vs. Stanford | 73.06 |
24. Iowa vs. Minnesota | 73.03 |
25. Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss | 72.93 |
The biggest omission? Clearly the matchup between Alabama and Texas A&M we witnessed two weeks ago - that rivalry has some intangibles that will never show up in a mathematical ranking system.
As you can see, four of the top 10 games (and 11 of the 25 overall) include at least one SEC team. Alabama and LSU are both involved in four of the top 25 games - tied at the top for one single team. Notre Dame also checks in with three games - USC, Michigan and Michigan State. Sadly, at least one of those games won't continue moving forward.
What do you think? Is the list too SEC-heavy? Or do 11 of the best 25 rivalry games in 2013 really involve at least one Southeastern Conference team?
You can see TIcketCity.com's full report and rankings system here.
