Editor’s note: This article is part of our Bragging Rights series, exploring rivalries that form the backbone of college football throughout the 2026 season.Pam Beesly is Texas. Roy Anderson is Texas A&M. Jim Halpert is Oklahoma.Pam and Roy have been together and are comfortable together. That they belong together is obvious, at least to Roy. But Jim has more to offer and is ultimately impossible to resist. This love triangle from “The Office” helps illustrate a common college football rivalry dynamic — the hate triangle.Texas is everything to Texas A&M. It represents the biggest possible win and worst possible loss on the schedule, now that they’re playing again after a 13-year break (the one good thing about the latest realignment shift). But ask Texas fans, and you will hear more often than not: “Oklahoma is our biggest rival.”It’s the biggest possible win on an annual basis, no doubt. Worst possible defeat? In reality, the in-state relationship makes a loss to the Aggies less tolerable than one to the Sooners. Miserably intolerable.How does that apply to mockumentary sitcom romances of the 2000s? Maybe it’s like Pam being more willing to overlook a Jim mistake than a Roy mistake. Or maybe that analogy has reached its limit.In this attempt to identify each Power 4 college football team’s biggest rival, we lean heavily on Scott Dochterman’s 2025 list of the sport’s 100 greatest rivalries, but we also have some split win/loss answers.They almost always involve a high-profile team that has another high-profile rival across state lines, but must deal with a lesser in-state program that can make life hell for a year by pulling an upset.Equal partnershipsAuburn-Alabama: This has a case as the king of rivalries exactly because these people can’t get away from each other, ever. It’s also been quite lopsided of late — Bama’s got six straight and 14 of 18 to stretch its series lead to 52-37-1.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 2Army-Navy: It’s not Power 4, but it must be mentioned because it also might be the greatest of all. The pride in singing second, and the disappointment in singing first, simply make this different.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 4Minnesota-Wisconsin: There may be no better rivalry reward than Paul Bunyan’s Axe. There’s absolutely no better trophy history in a series, considering these two played for the “Slab of Bacon” before it was lost in the 1940s.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 10What rivalry games should teams wear their home colors? Ralph D. RussoKansas-Missouri: This ignores the in-state bitterness of Kansas vs. Kansas State, but I’ve reached out to a fan in the know on this (as with many of these) and have been assured Missouri and the Border War is the clear No. 1.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 19Ole Miss-Mississippi State: The “Egg Bowl” is a Thanksgiving weekend staple, at times accompanied by extra fixings.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 23Clemson-South Carolina: The “Palmetto Bowl” has been dominated by Clemson historically, but South Carolina has had some good stretches in the 21st century.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 24Pittsburgh-West Virginia: If you’ve got a nickname, you’re legit. “Backyard Brawl” comes with some of the nastiest fan behavior you’ll find anywhere.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 26Utah-BYU: “Holy War” is surprisingly lopsided in Utah’s favor (59-35-4) given BYU’s high profile since the 1980s. The current era is the best it’s been.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 28Stanford-Cal: The Stanford people are still mad about how the 1982 game ended. Not saying they shouldn’t be, just saying, “The Play” from “The Big Game” says it all.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 29Iowa-Iowa State: This is a really hard one that almost qualified for the hate triangle, because Iowa may hate Nebraska the most now and might value wins over Wisconsin more. But when in doubt, in-state is usually the answer.The Athletic rivalry ranking: 32TCU-Baylor: The most-played rivalry in the history of the state of Texas, it didn’t mean much to non-Texans before the 21st century. But it’s all grown up now.