Big East Conference Rivalries - Rivalries With Out-of-conference Teams

Rivalries With Out-of-conference Teams

Schools that have announced plans to leave the Big East are indicated in plain italics. Schools that will join the Big East in the future for all sports are indicated in bold type. Schools that will join the Big East for football only are indicated with bold italics.

• Cincinnati Bearcats - Xavier Musketeers (Atlantic 10): With the campuses of these two schools separated by just 3 miles, the Crosstown Shootout has earned a reputation as one of college basketball's most spirited rivalries. The 2011-12 game ended in a bench-clearing brawl with the Musketeers winning 76–53.
• Cincinnati Bearcats - Miami (OH) RedHawks (Mid-American Conference): The oldest and 11th-longest running rivalry in NCAA Division I football. The winner is awarded the Victory Bell.
• Connecticut Huskies - UMass Minutemen (Atlantic 10): Stemming from a resurgence of UMass basketball in the mid-1990s, fans of both teams clamored for a renewal of this regional basketball rivalry. The resulting MassMutual UGame pitted the two schools in an annual contest between 1996-2006. UConn won all but one game in the new series, and the teams were unable to reach an agreement on continuing the series past 2006.
• Connecticut Huskies - Rhode Island Rams (Atlantic 10): The rivalry has been spotty in most sports ever since the fall of the old Yankee Conference and UConn's move from Division I-AA (now FCS), where the schools were both members of the A-10, to I-A (now FBS) in football. The two teams formerly competed for the Ramnapping Trophy.
• Connecticut Huskies - Tennessee Lady Vols (SEC): This rivalry is exclusive to women's basketball, in which both schools have been among the country's most dominant programs since the mid-1990s. For a more complete discussion, see UConn–Tennessee rivalry.
• Georgetown Hoyas - Howard Bison (MEAC): The only Washington, D.C. colleges with Division I football programs have recently launched an annual contest to compete for the D.C. Mayor's Cup.
• Louisville Cardinals - Kentucky Wildcats (SEC), Battle for the Bluegrass in basketball; and the Governor's Cup in football.
• Marquette Golden Eagles - Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten): Just 70 miles apart, the two most prominent Division I teams in the State of Wisconsin have played over 120 times in men's basketball.
• Marquette Golden Eagles - Milwaukee Panthers (Horizon League): Crosstown schools have heated rivalries in every sport except men's basketball, where Marquette owns a one-sided 35-0 advantage. Men's soccer is the next biggest sport, with Milwaukee owning a commanding 26-9-3 lead for the Milwaukee Cup.
• Pittsburgh Panthers - Duquesne Dukes (Atlantic 10): An intracity rivalry played between both schools' men's and women's basketball teams termed the City Game.
• Pittsburgh Panthers - Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Independent): The football rivalry that originated in 1909 is tied for Pitt's third most played football opponent while Pitt is Notre Dame's fifth most played football opponent. The rivalry can spill over to other sports where both schools compete in the Big East Conference. This will continue as a conference rivalry in non-football sports once Notre Dame joins Pitt in the ACC. In football, it will be a semi-regular rivalry game; although Notre Dame will retain its football independence, it has agreed to play five games each season against ACC teams once it joins that conference.
• Pittsburgh Panthers - Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten): The Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry, at one time the most notable rivalry in the northeast between traditional East Coast football powers, has been played 96 times. Although it has been dormant since 2000, it is scheduled to be revived for a two game series in 2016 and 2017. It is the second most played rivalry for Pitt and the most played rivalry for Penn State.
• Providence Friars - Rhode Island Rams (Atlantic 10): The annual Rhode Island State Championship game is played between these schools once a year.
• Providence Friars - Boston College Eagles (ACC): Former Big East rivals are in adjacent states with both teams having among the most intense fans in New England.
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Princeton Tigers (Ivy League) Teams played the first college football game. Rivalry active since 1860s; currently active in all sports except football. Rivalry is called the "The Cannon Wars," a reference to a dispute between the two schools over the ownership of a Revolutionary War cannon.
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Navy Midshipmen & Army Black Knights (both FBS Independents in football): These two football-only rivalries stem from these schools being the only three programs to come out of the original, informal "Ivy League" that are still members of the top tier of NCAA college football (currently Division I FBS)--See Before There Was An Ivy League. Navy and Army are Rutgers' oldest and second oldest active football rivals (respectively). The rivalry with Army is furthered by proximity, as they are the only two NCAA Division I FBS football programs in the New York Metropolitan Area. Had Rutgers not chosen to leave the Big East for the Big Ten in 2014, the Navy game would have become a conference rivalry in 2015 when Navy football is set to join the Big East.
• South Florida Bulls - UCF Knights. The UCF–USF football rivalry was first played in 2005, before either school had joined the Big East, and continued as a home-and-away series through 2008. This will become a conference rivalry in 2013 when UCF joins the Big East.
• Syracuse Orange - Boston College Eagles (ACC): Former Big East rivals who had many intense battles in both football and basketball. The schools renewed the football rivalry for a six-year series beginning in 2010. It will again become a conference rivalry when Syracuse joins the ACC; the football rivalry is now assured of continuing each year, as BC and Syracuse were placed in the same football division.
• Syracuse Orange - Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (Independent): The two programs with the most NCAA lacrosse championships, the rivalry between the two independents continued into the beginning of Big East lacrosse.
• Syracuse Orange - Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten): The two former independent football schools had a long-standing rivalry as anchors of East Coast college football. Last played in 2009, the two teams have met 70 times with the game being the most played rivalry for Syracuse and the second most played rivalry for Penn State.
• Syracuse Orange - Virginia Cavaliers (ACC): The lacrosse matchup between these two schools often has championship implications. It will become a conference rivalry when Syracuse joins the ACC.
• Villanova Wildcats - Boston College Eagles (ACC): Former Big East foes draw from the same region of the country and hold identical prestige level. The rivalry takes on a religious tone as Augustinian (Villanova University) versus Jesuit (Boston College).
• Villanova Wildcats - Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (CAA): While the rivalry exists in most sports, it is most intense in football, in which Villanova plays in the CAA alongside Delaware. The football game, known as the Battle of the Blue, is always the last of the season for each team, and usually carries tournament implications for at least one team. Because of the close proximity of the schools (less than one hour apart), many opposing fans find their way to the games each year.
• Connecticut Huskies - Stanford Cardinal (Pac-12): The two teams, in women's basketball, are two of the nation's best teams every season. Notably, losses to Stanford bookended the Huskies' Division I-record 90-game winning streak, and UConn ended an 82-game Stanford home winning streak in 2012.

In addition to the listed out of conference rivalries, Villanova is one of the participants in the heated five-way men's basketball rivalry that has developed out of the Philadelphia Big 5 basketball series. This round-robin series is played every year between Penn, Temple, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, and Villanova. The rivalry between Villanova and Saint Joseph's is one of the most intense of the group and is referred to as the Holy War.