The 2025-26 college football regular season is wrapping up with rivalry week, where bitter and petty grudges rear their beautifully ugly heads on the grid iron. There will be plenty of bowl eligibilities clinched (and plenty lost) as well as serious College Football Playoff implications with each result.
But outside the fierce rivalries inside the sidelines, those standing outside and guiding the players have plenty at stake too. The head coaching carousel has already claimed a handful of victims and granted the dreams of many others so far this year. This weekend's results will do more of the same.
3 CFB coaches with the most to gain against their schools' arch rivals
Ryan Day, Ohio State
He's lost four straight games to the team up north but brought home a national championship last year. The Buckeyes look primed to defend that title but will the scarlet and gray faithful in Columbus tolerate a fifth consecutive loss to the Wolverines if it meant another national title?
Read More: FanSided x Meta College Football Rivalry Week coverage
There was already a considerable faction of the fanbase that called for Day's head after last year's ugly loss at home to Michigan and they were temporarily quelled through the CFP. Ohio State has yet to drop a game since that rivalry week, but business in Columbus is all about, "What have you done for me lately?" Regaining bragging rights over the Wolverines would put an end to those gripes and give Day some much-needed breathing room as he tries to become the first Buckeye head coach to ever repeat as national champs.
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
The 44-year-old Vanderbilt alum has led the Commodores to their most successful season in well over a century with the opportunity to log 10 wins for the first time in program history. The Nashville-based university will travel to its traditionally dominant SEC neighbor in Knoxville for a rare ranked-on-ranked matchup.
A victory over No. 19 Tennessee for the No. 14-ranked Commodores would give them their fourth win over a ranked foe this season. That could boost Vanderbilt's resume enough to make them the first alternate for the final at-large bid in the CFP field - another first for the program and something once viewed as unattainable. Lea's legacy would be cemented as one of the greatest in school history and he'd likely have his pick of whatever head coaching gig he wants (Penn State, Florida, Ole Miss, etc.).
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
This one is a little more niche. Fleck has led the Golden Gophers since 2017 and has only ever recorded two losing seasons. Minnesota (6-5) will successfully avoid making it a third this season but it's the rivalry week matchup with Wisconsin that could make all the difference.
The battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe is one of the most fierce in the college football. Saturday will be the 198th edition with the all-time series tied at 63-63-8. Minnesota has won four of the last seven contests, including three of the last four. Fleck has been singularly responsible for that stretch of success in the series which previously saw the Badgers win 13 straight before his arrival in Minneapolis. Beating Wisconsin on Saturday will solidify Fleck's position as the most successful for the school in the series since the mid-80s.