PHOENIX — A new study is saying that Arizona vs. Arizona State is the best rivalry that college football has to offer.
The "Territorial Cup" has been played between the two schools 92 times since 1899 with Wildcats leading the series 49-42 with one tie in 1987. The Sun Devils have won the two most recent meetings.
The study was put together by two business professors, according to the New York Times, using KnowRivalry.com.
The professors grabbed fans of teams all over the country and had them distribute 100 total points to the different teams they consider rivals of their team with a goal of putting the emphasis on which rivalry has the most allocated points between both fan bases.
So, if you're not catching on, fans of teams with just one major rival would allocate most or all points to said rival. Which brings us to the results of the study, which said Arizona and Arizona State led the way as U of A fans gave an average of 89 points to ASU and ASU fans gave an average of 83 points to U of A.
Neither school technically has another rival except for Arizona, which used to have New Mexico, but that rivalry has been played three times since 1998.
Behind ASU/Arizona comes Michigan and Ohio State, obviously a very prominent college football rivalry. Behind that is Toledo/Bowling Green, Utah/BYU and Central Michigan/Western Michigan.
So, as you can see, we have some issues here.
I don't think any ASU/Arizona fans would even classify the Territorial Cup as college football's top rivalry. It might be the most important to you, of course, but objectively? Not a chance.
Alabama/Auburn doesn't even make the top 10 on this study nor does Georgia/Florida or Army/Navy or Notre Dame/USC, etc. etc. I could go on and on.
But hey, if you're an ASU or U of A fan, this is a fun headline and there's nothing wrong with being excited about your rivalry, especially after last year's game.