The Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry

The rivalry between Lafayette College and Lehigh University is officially the most played series in college football history, recognized by the NCAA. Their first game was held here at Lafayette in eighteen eighty-four, making it one of the oldest rivalries in all of American sports. The two schools have met more than one hundred fifty times, and what began as a regional competition between neighboring Pennsylvania colleges became a national story, covered by Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and ESPN. Every late November, the game still draws tens of thousands of fans to what is simply called The Rivalry, a tradition that has outlasted wars, depressions, and the transformation of college athletics around it.