Top 10 Best Rivalries in Sports

Rivalries are where sports stop being polite and start getting personal. A regular game can be fun. A rivalry game can turn otherwise reasonable adults into face-painted prophets screaming at the television like the remote owes them money.

The best sports rivalries are built on more than a scoreboard. They come from history, geography, championships, heartbreak, revenge, pride, and fans who can recite ancient grudges with the accuracy of a tax auditor. Some stretch back generations. Others are newer, but already carry enough tension to make every matchup feel like a pressure cooker with uniforms.

This list brings together the matchups that make you circle dates on the calendar, talk trash before breakfast, and care deeply about teams or athletes you may not even follow the rest of the season. Cast your vote for the rivalries you think deserve the top spots, and help decide which clashes truly bring out the loudest crowds, sharpest nerves, and most gloriously unreasonable fan behavior in sports.

1. New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Baseball

   The most intense rivalry in the world: the 2003 and 2004 ALCS just define it. Think about the curse of the Bambino: The Red Sox trading the best player in baseball history to the Yankees, a move that would put a curse on them for 86 years. The intense brawls in the 1970s, then more brawls in the early 2000s, occurred in an overall peaceful sport. An 80-year-old pitching coach being thrown down by a pitcher.

   In 2003, there was the walk-off home run in Game 7, Bottom of the 11th, that would send the Yankees to the World Series. Then the next year in 2004, after the Yankees took a 3-0 series lead, the Red Sox won four straight to go to the World Series and reverse the curse. Games with some of the best players, like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Pedro Martinez. There is no question that this is the best rivalry in all of sports. Case closed.

2. Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Football

   This isn't a one-day-a-year rivalry. This game defines both states for the entire year. No one from Ohio is caught dead with blue on, and no one from Michigan is caught dead with scarlet on. This is more than football.

   When I was a child, even before I knew what sports were, I was taught to hate Michigan. I didn't just hate the University of Michigan. No, that is too easy. We are taught to hate the whole state and all of its inhabitants.

   I know people who drive through each other's state and refuse to stop and get gas or eat a meal because they don't want their tax money going to the other state. This is more than a sports rivalry. This is just pure, unadulterated hatred between two groups of people.

3. Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona Soccer

   Baseball and American football, or rugby as some may refer to it, are played primarily in America and a handful of other nations, which collectively represent only about 10% of the world's population. Ask an Indian like me, or someone from China or Russia. We don't even know who the Michigan or Yankee teams are. On the other hand, soccer is universal. Even a child in Sudan knows who Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are. Hence, the greatest sports rivalry ever simply has to be the greatest soccer (football) rivalry in history.

   By the way, a match between Madrid and Barcelona is called "El Clásico" or "The Classic." Every professional football player has admitted this: when they play, every football player and manager around the world stops whatever he or she is doing and sits to watch this game.

4. Duke vs. North Carolina Basketball

   This is by far the best because both are continuously great. Ohio State and Michigan took long breaks from winning national championships. So long for Michigan, in fact, that between their last two championships we sent a man to the moon. For Ohio State, the US exited the Vietnam War, communism fell, and much more. If you aren't in the national conversation, your rivalry is consistently insignificant.

   The best rivalry in college athletics is, without any doubt, Duke vs. Carolina in basketball. The fact that both programs are consistently excellent is unparalleled in any rivalry in any sport. They account for eight national championships since 1982. Not to mention, one or the other has been in the Final Four for 20 of the 28 years since 1982, and once, both made it!

   Although rivalries like Red Sox-Yankees and Liverpool-Manchester United are professional and therefore attract much larger urban and national fanbases in a way that Duke-Carolina cannot, no other rivalry has sustained a record of success for both teams in their respective leagues for so long. This makes it possibly the best rivalry in all of sports.

   The fact that these two teams play each other twice does not diminish the rivalry aspect, despite what many proponents of the Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry like to claim. (No one claims that the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is in any way diminished by the fact that they play multiple games against each other, to prove the point.)

   Both programs are also at top universities with perfectly clean records, which adds to the rivalry's pedigree, class, and mutual respect, as well as its vitriol. The added element of the public "everyman" versus private "elite" introduces a class warfare element that can only be replicated by intra-city rivalries like Yankees-Mets, White Sox-Cubs, or even USC-UCLA and Stanford-Cal. However, none of these rivalries have the incredible success of Carolina-Duke.

5. India vs. Pakistan Cricket

   Very intense, stressful, entertaining and dynamic matches. Players put their hearts and souls into each India vs. Pakistan game, fueled by the mammoth energy and drive from the crowds on and off the field.

   Either side would prefer a victory over the other than winning a particular tournament, which is at times funny, especially among the fans. It's so intense that the buildup and TV shows (pre and post-game) get 10 to 15 times more airtime than the actual matches.

   Past players describe the feeling as carrying an extra 100 kg of weight on their shoulders before every game and an immense sense of relief afterward.

   Arguably the biggest rivalry in sports! There is immense excitement prior to the match. People skip their offices, shut their businesses, and students bunk their schools and colleges just for this game. A game watched by 1.2 billion mad cricket fans from both countries.

   The match gets so close and intense at times that fans from both sides lose their cool, leading them to break their TV sets in anger. A few even suffer cardiac arrests, unable to digest the loss. Such is the love and craziness for this game here in the Subcontinent. It should have been ranked 1 on the list.

6. Auburn vs. Alabama Football

   I grew up in Alabama. You were either yelling War Eagle or Roll Tide. That's it. There are no other distractions. No professional teams in any sport to get in the way. Zero.

   It's all about college football. I'll be honest with you - there's nothing else to do in Alabama. The world revolves around this rivalry that involves two of the best programs in the nation every year. Seven out of the last eight years, the winner of this game was in the National Championship Game. Can Michigan and Ohio State say that? Close? Uh, no. Not close.

   It's the Heisman Trophy. It's the National Championship. It's the Iron Bowl. It's what exemplifies college football. I can't speak for other countries in the world, but in the United States, this is the best rivalry in sports.

7. Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers Basketball

   They are the biggest of the NBA, the green vs. yellow. Also, they had some of the best players. Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, just to name a few.

   Plus, the Celtics have 17 championships, and the Lakers have 16. First and second place. Undoubtedly the best in the NBA.

   Green and Yellow Jerseys. What a good matchup.

   When they play, it gets tense. Go Celtics!

8. Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears Football

   The Chicago Bears. A team built on toughness and centered in the great city of Chicago. One of the most respected teams in the sport, no matter what their record might be.

   The Green Bay Packers. A team built on cheese in a small town that could easily fit into the stadium.

   I'll let you choose which one you like better.

   Don't care if Rodgers is number one. Don't care about how many Super Bowls. Don't care about how many championships. Don't care about Vince Lombardi. Don't care about Bart Starr. Bears rule forever, no matter how they perform.

9. Notre Dame vs. USC Football

   The two greatest teams in college football history are the Irish and Trojans. Historically, they have fought for a national championship as the two programs each claim 11 National Championships, although Notre Dame has 11 consensus championships compared to USC's 6. Both schools have 7 Heisman winners and have produced the most NFL players, NFL Hall of Famers, and College Football Hall of Famers in history.

   This rivalry is a respectful one, but the stakes are always high. They fight on the field and in the recruiting war. Michigan-Ohio State may have more hate for each other, but Notre Dame-USC is the rivalry of champions.

   It is only number 15 because people don't respect long-distance rivals like they do in-state rivals. This is shameful because of who we're talking about. It's Notre Dame vs. USC.

   One of these teams gathered millions to watch, but the rivalry was something everyone needed to see. A general fan of college football would rate this in the top two rivalries.

10. Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal Tennis

    Two of the best athletes ever in the world's hardest sport. It may not have the hate of other rivalries, but the competition is intense.

    Fiercely contested and always exciting, a strong candidate for the best rivalry.

    Two of the greatest players ever in a rivalry spanning so many years.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball

    It's a young rivalry. We'll see in 10 years what it looks like then.

12. ?

    Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants Football

    Should be much higher. These two teams have been competing since the early '30s, which is longer than many of the rivalries mentioned.

The Contenders

13. Army vs. Navy Football

    No matter who wins this college football game, America wins. Go Army! Beat Navy!

    Best, most patriotic game in the land. Go Navy, beat Army.

14. Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady NFL

    Despite them not playing against each other on the field, this rivalry is still awesome. Two amazing QBs and their teams going at it. I'm a Patriots fan, so I'm definitely all Tom Brady, but I can't deny that Peyton is great, too! When both of these QBs are retired, the NFL won't be the same.

    The Broncos-Pats rivalry is nothing without these two people. I don't watch the games just to see Edelman and Sanders receiving yards. I watch to see these two legends play!

    Adding this for all the people that accidentally voted Colts-Pats. Colts-Pats is NOT the rivalry. It's all about Peyton vs. Tom!

15. Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens Hockey

    I'm a Habs fan and I despise the Bruins. Growing up in Montreal, hockey is a part of life. The folk heroes are Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, and Jacques Plante.

    When Chara almost killed Pacioretty a few years ago, I flipped out. I couldn't believe those Bruins were trying to beat the clearly superior team. Go Habs Go!

    The biggest, and most brutal rivalry in sports. Any time the two teams meet, it's extreme high intensity, and a blood battle. Should be top 3, if not, then first place on this list. Most Bostonians would agree this rivalry is much more intense than Sox vs. Yankees.

16. Liverpool vs. Manchester United Soccer

    Liverpool vs. Manchester United is undoubtedly the greatest football rivalry, if not the greatest in sports. The most competitive and intense game. Last season, it was Manchester United winning both games 2-1, and Liverpool finished 7th.

    This season, Liverpool beat United 1-0 and 0-3, and United are finishing 7th. This shows the unpredictability.

17. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens Hockey

    People voting for this are mistaken. The Bruins versus Canadiens is the biggest rivalry in hockey.

    This definitely is the most violent rivalry up in the North since the Nordiques 'r' gone.

18. San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball

    Unlike the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox, the Dodgers vs. Giants rivalry has a neck-and-neck win ratio. They have been rivals since 1890, making it the oldest rivalry in baseball.

    Not even the move from the East Coast to the West Coast stopped the rivalry. Each time these two teams meet, if it's not the players, the fans are out looking for blood, literally. Fans on both sides cheer for two things: their team's victory and their rival's defeat. As much as you've heard, if you're a fan of the opposing team and wish to go to a Dodger game in LA, do NOT purchase seats in the Left Field Pavilion.

    For sure, it's up there with the top rivalries in baseball! Deep-seated hatred for the Dodgers is up there! Unless you're from LA, nobody likes the Dodgers, just like the Raiders and the Kings! LA has some of the worst fans.

19. Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots Football

    It's just not the same anymore ever since Peyton left, but the games are still pretty fierce. Just wait until Andrew Luck becomes more experienced, and Colts vs. Pats is going to be the game to look for again.

20. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings Hockey

    Should be way higher up, I think. One of the oldest Original 6, and Western Division rivalries before the 2013 realignment. Intensity and hatred similar to Habs vs. Bruins.

21. Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers Football

    They run the NFL right now and probably will for another 5 years. Every game is physical and intense.

22. Cracovia vs. Wisla Krakow Soccer

23. Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahce Soccer

24. Miami vs. Florida State College Football

    Greatest players in this rivalry. The biggest rivalry in the best football state: Florida.

25. Michigan Wolverines vs. Michigan State Spartans Football

    Everyone in Michigan either bleeds green or blue. The winner gets bragging rights at every family reunion!

26. Rangers vs. Celtic Soccer (Old Firm)

    This should be hands down number one. You should go to a match and see the measures to stop fans from killing each other. It is pure hate in its purest form.

    Easily number 1. Do a bit of reading on this, and you'll change your mind.

27. Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues Hockey

    The best rivalry in any sport. Blues-Blackhawks.