The reality of a rematch from a previous college football season is normally rooted in conference matchups, but not always. Some non-conference opponents arrange a home-and-home series, exchanging visits to the other campus in a two-year span. One such game makes this list below of the five most interesting college football rematches from 2017.
Auburn at Georgia
The 2017 season ended with a bitter irony for Auburn fans: The two teams Auburn defeated in November of 2017 both wound up playing for the national championship. Georgia won the SEC East and got an SEC Championship Game rematch with Auburn, which it won. Alabama did not defeat Auburn in the SEC West, but when Auburn lost to Georgia for its second loss of the season, 11-1 Alabama was able to vault over the Tigers and Ohio State to make the College Football Playoff as the fourth and final seed. Auburn has quarterback Jarrett Stidham back for another season, which should stabilize the offense and give the Tigers a chance of winning on the road against the defending SEC champions. This is an impossible game to ignore among 2018 rematches of memorable 2017 contests.
Ohio State at Penn State
The Ohio State-Penn State series has become one of college football’s most delicious dramas in recent years. In each of the past two seasons, the team which established a double-digit lead lost the game, as the opponent mounted a furious second-half comeback to steal a win. In 2016, Penn State engineered the comeback triumph, but in 2017, Ohio State returned the favor. In both instances, the winner of the game became the Big Ten champion. The stakes and the hype could not be any higher for the latest edition of this meeting. Both programs recruit at an extremely high level. What’s not to love?
USC at Texas
This is the one non-conference matchup on the board. The two schools who played in the 2006 Rose Bowl, considered by many as the greatest college football game ever played, staged a memorable and extremely dramatic overtime game last year in Southern California. Texas and USC seem incapable of playing a boring, ordinary game. Texas, in year two under head coach Tom Herman, is trying to restore its status as an elite program in college football. USC will be challenged to maintain its status now that Sam Darnold, the quarterback who revived the program, will no longer play for the Trojans. Endless intrigue envelops this game.
Florida State at Miami
The return of Miami football to a prominent level – winning its first ACC Coastal Division championship and returning to the Orange Bowl game – finally makes this rivalry seem more like the glory days in the 1980s and 1990s, when this was the game of the year in college football. Now, both teams have championship aspirations, not just one. Florida State brings a new coach, Willie Taggart, into the mix. This is going to be wildly unpredictable.
Auburn at Alabama
The Auburn Tigers were the only team to beat Alabama last year. Many people thought Alabama did not deserve to make the playoff, but the only people who mattered – the selection committee – thought otherwise. Auburn beat the team which won the national title. The Tigers are sick about that fact, and this is the game in which they get a chance to do something about that against the defending champions.
