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J.J. Post, ESPN
This week the Women’s College World Series brings to center stage one of college sports’ best rivalries: the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas.
With Texas ranked No. 1 and Oklahoma ranked No. 2 — and the rivalry’s four prior editions this season split 2-2 with an average margin of victory of 2.25 runs — the championship series is set to be a classic. It will also be déjà vu for both squads: The Sooners and the Longhorns squared off in the 2022 World Series, with Oklahoma winning the title for its second in a run of three straight national championships.
Softball’s 2022 title game rematch is another recent example of college rivals competing on the biggest stages. Here are some other Division I rivalry games that have seen multiple championship editions since 2000.
Georgia v. Alabama
Sport: Football
Years: 2022, 2018
Perennial college football powerhouses, two of the past three SEC championships have featured a showdown between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide. The rivalry between Alabama and Georgia has also appeared on the sport’s biggest stage: the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Since its debut in 2014, every edition of the College Football Playoff but one has featured either the Bulldogs or the Crimson Tide. The SEC powerhouses twice made the playoff together, both times ending up in a matchup against one another for the national title.
Alabama took the first of the two matchups in 2017-18, thanks to the second-half heroics of Tua Tagovailoa. Georgia would get revenge four years later, riding a 20-point fourth quarter to a 33-18 win in 2021-22.
LSU v. Florida
Sport: Baseball
Years: 2023, 2017
Last spring’s Men’s College World Series-deciding battle between Florida and LSU was a wild one. The first game was a 4-3 nail-biter that required 11 innings to separate the SEC foes, with the next two games ending with a combined margin of victory of 34 runs.
The Tigers roared loudest in Game 3, amassing 24 hits in an 18-4 victory. The win capped off LSU’s first championship series appearance since the Gators took the 2017 title with a 2-0 series win against the Tigers.
Wisconsin v. Minnesota
Sport: Women’s hockey
Years: 2019, 2012, 2006
The Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe is the most-played rivalry in the FBS, but the Midwest showdown may be even more intense on ice. The Badgers and Gophers have played three times for the national title since the NCAA debuted the women’s Frozen Four in 2001.
Minnesota was the first of the two schools to claim a title with a 6-2 win over Harvard in 2004, but Wisconsin holds a 2-1 edge in head-to-head national championship game clashes — including a 2-0 win in the most recent such showdown in 2019.
Virginia v. Maryland
Sport: Men’s lacrosse
Years: 2021, 2011
Maryland and Virginia may not share a conference like some of the other rivals on this list, but the cross-DMV feud burns hot — especially in men’s lacrosse where the two schools have twice met in the national title game.
The Cavaliers trail in their overall series against Maryland — which has been played a whopping 97 times — but boast a 2-0 record in national championship games. The more recent triumph came in 2021, when Virginia took down the top-ranked Terrapins thanks to four goals apiece from Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger.
USC v. UCLA
Sport: Beach volleyball
Years: 2024, 2023, 2021, 2019
The most recently added NCAA championship, the first beach volleyball national title game came in 2016. It hasn’t taken long though for crosstown foes UCLA and USC to strike up a highly competitive rivalry, with several showdowns on the sport’s biggest stage.
Four of the last five beach volleyball national championship games have come down to the Bruins and Trojans. USC, who last month picked up its fourth consecutive national title, boasts a 3-1 record when the two Los Angeles schools meet in the final.
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