The rivalry games are what drive the college football season with teams circling those games on their calendars when the schedule is released with the intent on making sure they bring their best to those showdowns. However, even with such a high level of parity across college football in general there are bound to be some lopsided matchups in which the games don’t end up being very close at all in the end. Here is a look at the four rivalry games that will be blowouts in 2016.
Stanford Cardinal vs. California Golden Bears
November 19th, 2016
Stanford has won six straight versus Cal, including the last four by an average of 25.5 points. The fact that the Cardinal dominated the Golden Bears even with Jared Goff under center for Cal is an illustration of how bad things could get this year now that Goff has moved on to the NFL and the Golden Bears don’t have a star talent at the quarterback position this year. Stanford won’t have Kevin Hogan either, but they will have Christian McCaffrey in addition to a substantial amount of talent on both sides of the football. Sonny Dykes has helped rebuild the Cal program, but they’re still at least a couple of years away. A lot of people were really excited about the team when they started 5-0 last season, but we saw how fraudulent that was as they ended up losing five of their next six, and finishing the regular season just 7-5 (4-5 in the Pac-12). The Cardinal have had the edge in this series for some time and they should continue their dominance over Cal this season.
Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers
November 26th, 2016
Football’s version of the Civil War has been extremely lopsided as well with Oregon winning eight straight meetings versus rival Oregon State. The Ducks have outscored the Beavers by 232 points over that run, including last year’s 52-42 win that would have been a lot more lopsided if it wasn’t for a couple of big plays that helped Oregon State keep it close. What’s interesting is that last year was a bit of a down year for Oregon, yet they still hung a number on Oregon State. They won’t be as bad in the coming years.
As for the Beavers, they are coming off a 2-10 season and they aren’t expected to be much better next year. Meanwhile, Oregon will look to contend for a Pac-12 title once again and a lopsided win over rival Oregon State should be a good bet once November rolls around. There will be one-sided fireworks in the Civil War.
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Clemson Tigers
November 26th, 2016
Clemson will look to follow up a trip to the national championship game by taking care of unfinished business this season as they set their eyes on the national title. Deshaun Watson leads a talented cast that is certainly good enough to run the table in the ACC and the Tigers should have no problem taking care of business in their rivalry game versus South Carolina. Clemson narrowly edged out the Gamecocks in a 37-32 win a year ago but this year they will be rolling in front of their home crowd with a chance to make history and the result could be a lopsided blowout win for the Tigers.
Army Blacknights vs. Navy Midshipmen
December 10th, 2016
Three of the last four games between Army and Navy have been decided by one score but the rivalry between these teams remains one of the most lopsided in college football. Navy has won the last 14 straight meetings between these programs and 17 of the last 19 overall. That trend should continue with Ken Niumatalolo’s option run game clicking for Navy while Jeff Monken continues to struggle to establish a winning program at Army. Niumatalolo is 8-0 in his career versus the Black Knights and after a couple of close finishes this year’s matchup is more likely to end in a blowout as the Midshipmen’s dominance continues.
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