A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
College football season, the time of year when rivalry games rule. That's when the school you love plays the school you love to hate.
CHRISTIAN ANDERSON: They might not remember the team's record in a given year, but they'll remember the rivalry game.
MARTÍNEZ: Christian Anderson is a professor of higher education at the University of South Carolina.
ANDERSON: It energizes people in a way that other sports don't. You know, sometimes it's all in good fun and sometimes not.
MARTÍNEZ: And you don't have to be a football fan to love the names of some of the rivalry matchups.
ANDERSON: The Holy War between Utah and BYU in Utah, Bedlam in Oklahoma, between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Oregon and Oregon State literally calls theirs the Civil War. And Kansas and Missouri calls it the Border War.
MARTÍNEZ: Chuck Culpepper is a sports columnist at The Washington Post, who knows the history of some of these names.
CHUCK CULPEPPER: The name Egg Bowl for the game between Mississippi and Mississippi State. Way back when, a century ago, footballs were shaped differently than they are now, more like an egg.
MARTÍNEZ: See? Hear that? It makes sense. Then there's the Georgia/Georgia Tech game.
CULPEPPER: The name Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. It came from, apparently, a book title by author Bill Cromartie in the '70s.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, some names take inspiration from the trophy the schools play for. There's the Battle For The Keg Of Nails between Cincinnati and Louisville, the Battle For The Milk Can between Boise State and Fresno State. Indiana and Purdue, they compete for the coveted Old Oaken Bucket.
CULPEPPER: In 1925, alums of both of those schools tried to figure out a trophy and they decided that a bucket should be it. And each year, a new link is added to the handle of the trophy with either an I or a P on it.
MARTÍNEZ: Culpepper says the game names are one of the things he likes the most about college football.
CULPEPPER: It's our most eccentric sport, college football. It qualifies as nutty in a lot of cases, and it's an accepted nuttiness through the years.
MARTÍNEZ: And if you're looking for a name for your favorite college football rivalry, just remember, the more bitter, the better.
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