The 2025 college baseball season has provided a new twist to the sport and rivalries with new rankings, offseason conference realignment and roster/coaching changes. But rivalries remain a huge part of the sport.
Here are eight of the biggest rivalries in college baseball:
Clemson – South Carolina
If someone ever asks what a college baseball rivalry is like, point to the Palmetto Series.
The Clemson and South Carolina meeting serve as the contest between the two biggest schools in South Carolina, but it’s more than just a line being drawn in the dirt. The battle started in 1899 — and there’s been no love lost since, as fan bases take it as personal as each team.
The Tigers and Gamecocks play a three-game series each season: one game at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium, another at South Carolina’s Founders Park and the third at a neutral site, Flour Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
The two teams already matched up in 2025, with the Tigers dominating. Clemson swept South Carolina 3-0 behind a pitching clinic, giving up only five hits in each game. Sophomore right-hander Aidan Knaak set the tone in the first inning of game one, striking out and staring down former teammate Gamecocks sophomore infielder Nolan Nawrocki, who transferred from Clemson to South Carolina during the offseason.
Aidan Knaak Ks former Tiger Nolan Nawrocki and stares him down 👀
Clemson South Carolina is underwayyyy 🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/NRQC5mQTnk
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) March 1, 2025
Mississippi State – Ole Miss
Ole Miss and Mississippi State have never shied away from each other on the diamond, meeting nearly every year since 1893. It’s a timeless, old-fashioned battle between in-state foes and passionate fan bases.
The rivalry’s grown so much so that the two teams play a single neutral-site game each season for the Governor’s Cup, previously known as the Mayor’s Trophy, dating back to 1980. The contest is played at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi, and doesn’t count toward SEC records.
Yeah, it’s that serious.
Even though the Bulldogs and Rebels are closing in on 500 meetings, the matchup has gained steam in the last decade with Mississippi State winning the MCWS in 2021 and Ole Miss in 2022. The Bulldogs ended the Rebels’ 2024 season on big note, when senior infielder/outfielder Connor Hujsak hit a two-run walk-off home run in the SEC tournament to beat Ole Miss and end its season.
GOOD BYE BASEBALL. BALLGAME. 🤯@HailStateBB x #SECTourney pic.twitter.com/NjRNuZjWHz
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) May 22, 2024
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Florida – Florida State
The Sunshine Showdown.
The Florida-Florida State rivalry is one of the best in college baseball, and it isn’t solely based on in-state squabbles. The Gators and Seminoles are highly ranked year in and year out, heightening the competitiveness of each matchup. It thickens the plot, as potential first round picks are festered all over the field and the respective dugouts.
Each team reached the semifinals of the 2024 Men’s College World Series — one step away from taking their rivalry to another level. They’ve met 12 times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in the 2016 Gainesville Super Regional where Florida won.
FSU and Florida already renewed their vows this season on March 11 in their first matchup, a top-10 ranked battle, where the Gators won 7-2 and snapped the Seminoles’ 15-game win streak to start the season. They play three times each year, where one game is played at each respective stadium and another at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, F
These are the types of Tuesday battles that give midweek meetings a new meaning.
Arizona – Arizona State
The Territorial Cup Series features two of the most historic and storied college baseball programs in Arizona and Arizona State.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils have a total of nine MCWS championships, 40 MCWS appearances, 82 NCAA tournament appearances and 27 conference regular-season championships. They’ve met 489 times and have been members of the same conference since 1931: Border Conference, Western Athletic, Pac-10/Pac-12 and now the Big 12.
It’s almost like competitive twin brothers attached to the hip.
The rivalry has passed its heyday and hasn’t had many ranked matchups in years, but there aren’t many duels that are as storied.
Although they will face each other in conference play, the two teams met once already in 2025 for a midweek contest. Arizona won 3-2 and picked up its 12th win in its last 13 contests.
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Texas – Texas A&M
June 25, 2024 marked a new age in the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.
Coach Jim Schlossnagle left Texas A&M a day after the Aggies finished runner-up in the 2024 Men’s College World Series and moved two hours west to be Texas’ new leader.
That’s not just a little fuel added to the fire. That’s a canister.
It was reported that one of Schlossnagle’s reasons for leaving tied to reuniting with UT Athletic Director Chris Del Conte, who worked with Schlossnagle at TCU for years. Even so, that’s not a good enough excuse to Texas A&M fans, especially when it comes to the number one team on their rivalry list.
And now that the Longhorns are members of the SEC, the rivalry is even more renewed — this year’s series is going to be more personal than usual.
Florida – Miami
The Florida-Miami rivalry might not have a cool nickname like Florida-Florida State, but it’s still one of the biggest in the sport.
It was just 2023 when Gators now-senior outfielder Ty Evans snapped the U hand sign over his knee after hitting a walk-off home run to run-rule the Canes. That’s after he blew Miami fans a kiss while rounding third base.
Tybo 💣 to send us home! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/12wHdzRMjk
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) March 5, 2023
The rivalry started in 1940, but has watered down in recent years, with Florida winning nine of the last 10 series and are 21-9 in the last 30 meetings. This includes the 2025 series, when the Gators won 2-1 at home.
They’ve met once in the College World Series, where UF steamrolled the Canes in 2015 and outscored them 25-5 over two games. The series is tied 136-136-1, heightening the importance of the next meeting.
Oregon – Oregon State
West Coast rivalries haven’t packed a punch in recent years like the South has, but Oregon-Oregon State might be one to keep an eye on.
The Ducks’ and Beavers’ annual series was a staple in the 2010s, both making NCAA tournament appearances consistently and putting on classics in either Eugene or Corvallis.
Although Oregon left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten this past offseason, the Civil War Series will take place at the end of April in 2025 for a three-game series hosted by Oregon State. And if both teams are still ranked by then — an aspect that the rivalry has missed — it will give the matchup a renewed enthusiasm.
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Tennessee – Vanderbilt
Even though the Tennessee and Vanderbilt meetings have dated back to 1897, the rivalry has made major waves in the last few years.
The Commodores were arguably the heartbeat of college baseball in the 2010s, reaching at least the NCAA tournament’s Super Regional round eight times between 2010 and 2019. Flooded with high-round draft picks yearly, Nashville was the place to be most weekends during the season.
That hasn’t been the case since 2022, specifically to the team three hours west. The Volunteers have made a name for themselves in the 2020s, making the MCWS three times in the last four years to Vandy’s one. Tennessee cemented itself in college baseball history after winning it all last season.
The Vols’ grand accomplishments don’t diminish the Commodores’ success, as Vandy was the MCWS runner-up in 2021. It means that the brand of baseball played in Knoxville and Nashville will only get better.
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