With the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies leaving the Big 12 for the SEC and the West Virginia Mountaineers from the Big East to the Big 12, college football is losing a few annual games that date back to the late 19th century. Of course these teams had many rivalries within their old conferences but these are the highlights:

1. Border War (Kansas vs. Missouri) – Believe it or not, these two neighboring states still harbor some ill will between the two that dates back to the American Civil War. The schools’ mascots Jayhawks and Tigers were both derived from the Civil War but that story is another blog. The first meeting was in 1891 with Kansas coming out victorious 22-10. The series was the second-most-played rivalry in major-college football history behind Minnesota-Wisconsin (yawn). Mizzou leads the series 57-54-9.
2. Lone Star Showdown (Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M) Beginning in 1894, the state of Texas’ two oldest public universities have had a long history of good old-fashion hate. From 1910 to 1940 there was only one instance of a team winning the rivalry game in consecutive seasons. Texas holds an overall 76-37-5 lead with many wins coming from 1940 to 1974 when A&M only won thrice and one tie. Legendary coach Darrell Royal was at the helm for most of those wins. Since then it has been pretty even. Each team had won three of the last six meetings.
3. Backyard Brawl (Pitt Panthers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers) This game is so named because of the proximity of the two campuses. The two cities of Pittsburgh and Morgantown are linked by I-79 with around 75 miles between them. They have played 104 times since 1895 with Pitt hanging on to a 60-41-3 lead but WVU has won the last three meetings.