What to Know Going into the Coveted Rivalry Week in 2025

Garret Johnson

11/28/2025

The 2025 college football season has been nothing short of a masterclass display of unpredicted upsets, top 25 matchups, overtime, and chaos in the head coaching world. 11 Head coaches have been told to part ways from their programs mid-season, with names like Brian Kelly, James Franklin and Hugh Freeze being the most prominent. Regardless of whether or not you think it is smart to let a HC go halfway through the season, it has happened and some teams have even improved since the departures. This year there is a lot at stake this rivalary week. Michigan has a chance to make it a 5-peat and take down number one OSU (again), If Georgia, Oregon, and Vandy lose, the playoff bracket may be in shambles. So, here is what to know going into this 2025 Rivalry Week.

Heavy Hitting Matchups

Ohio State vs Michigan

photo by on3.com

In the long history of this rivalry, Michigan has the winning record 62-52-6 against Ohio state. Michigan is currently on a 4-game win streak in this historic heavy weight bout. These two teams have been the Big 10's prize jewels with Ohio state winning the 2024 National title and Michigan taking the trophy in 2023. Both teams seeming to always find their way into the top 10 on the AP Poll, and rightfully so. Last year's match up in 2024, Ohio state lost to unranked Michigan despite being the number one team in the country and later going on to win the national championship. That being a key piece of evidence that going into this game, record does not matter and in true rivalry fashion.

2024 stat leaders:

• Time of Possession - Michigan 33.58 min

• First Downs - Ohio State 16

• Passing Yards - Ohio State 175 yds

• Rushing Yards - Michigan 172 yds

• Penalties - Michigan 4

• Total Plays - Ohio State 59

• Yards per play - Ohio State 4.3 yds

• Turn overs - Tied with 2

Alabama vs Auburn

photo by bvmsports.com

In the history of the Iron Bowl, Alabama leads the series 51 to 37. Their very first meeting in 1893, Auburn defeated the Crimson Tide 32-22. The longest win streak was 9 games held by Alabama from 1973-1981 and simultaneously holding the largest margin of victory by 55 points. However, Auburn has had their fair share of historic upsets including the year 2013. Alabama attempted a game winning field goal with 1 second left on the clock. The game was currently tied 28-28, the field goal ended up being short and Auburn had a returner back deep in the endzone for this exact purpose. Chris Davis ended up returning the miss field goal 100 yards and defeating the Tide 34-28. Now, Alabama has shown their dominance and won the past 5 games in the series.

2024 stat leaders:

• Time of Possession - Alabama 36.35 min

•  First Downs - Alabama 25

• Passing Yards - Auburn 301 yds

• Rushing Yards - Alabama 201 yds

• Penalties - Alabama 6 for 66 yds

• Total Yards - Alabama 457 yds

• Turn overs - Alabama 4

Other important rivalry week matchups and spreads:

19 Tennessee vs 14 Vanderbilt

• Favorite - Tennessee (-3)

• Spread is 65.5

6 Oregon vs Washington

• Favorite - Oregon (-6.5)

• Spread is 51.5

16 Texas vs 3 Texas A&M

• Favorite - Texas A&M (-3)

• Spread is 51.5

4 Georgia vs 23 Georgia Tech

• Favorite - Georgia (-16.5)

• Spread is 59.5

Arizona vs Arizona State

• Favorite - Arizona (-1.5)

• Spread is 48.5