30 bucket list items college football fans need to experience
26. The Rivalry: Lehigh-Lafayette
Yale-Princeton and the Game rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in college football history in terms of most played rivalries. The most played rivalry in the history of the sport, simply known as The Rivalry, between Lafayette and Lehigh.
The two Pennsylvania schools first met in 1884 and have played 152 times since, including at least once in every year since the first game, a 50-0 Lafayette victory. Prior to the beginning of the 20th Century, Lehigh and Lafayette usually played twice a season. The Leopards hold a 78-69-5 edge in the all-time series, through the Mountain Hawks have won the last two meetings.
The games have almost always been held on the campus of the two schools in Easton and Bethlehem, respectively, and are traditionally scheduled for the Saturday before Thanksgiving. However, the last Lafayette win, a 27-7 victory in 2014, was the 150th in the series and held at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. A crowd of 48,256 people gathered to watch, which broke the attendance record for the contest. The only other non-campus meeting occurred in 1891, when Lehigh picked up a 16-2 win in Wilkes-Barre.
In addition to football, The Rivalry extends to the rest of the varsity sports at the two schools. Created in 1968, the All Sports Trophy is awarded annually to the college that wins the most head-to-head meetings. Lehigh has a 34-2-6 lead in the all-time competition among men’s teams, though the Lafayette women hold a 12-10 edge.