We could come up with thousands of reasons why we love when college football season rolls around. Some of those may differ, but we can all agree on what makes the sport so special.

Rivalry games.

It’s the lifeblood of college football. Those highly anticipated games, with hatred spewing on both sides, is what separates the sport from anything else out there.

We all have our favorite rivalry games, too. School affiliations, geographical location and other factors all play a roll in what rivalries are “must-watch” television for each of us. And on any given year, any one of those games could emerge as THE game in college football.

Sporting News went through the difficult task of ranking the 30 hottest rivalry games heading into the 2017 season, and plenty of games involving B1G teams made the list. Actually, the conference had six games on the list, all coming in at various spots.

Here’s where those B1G rivalry games ranked:

  • No. 30: Iowa-Iowa State
  • No. 27: Iowa-Wisconsin
  • No. 18: Ohio State-Penn State
  • No. 13: Michigan-Michigan State
  • No. 10: Penn State-Pitt
  • No. 1: Ohio State-Michigan

It’s no surprise that Ohio State-Michigan tops the B1G list, but to trump the likes of Auburn-Alabama and Oklahoma-Texas, especially considering how one-sided ‘The Game’ is a pretty big compliment to both programs.

Here’s the reason Sporting News tabbed the annual meeting between the Buckeyes and Wolverines as the hottest rivalry:

…Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer have re-ignited college football’s best rivalry but it’s still on the Wolverines to break a five-game losing streak to the Buckeyes. Their next chance comes in Ann Arbor this season.

Ohio State was won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs, including wins in the last five. Michigan leads the all-time series 58-48-6.

Urban Meyer has not lost ‘The Game’ since arriving in Columbus in 2012.