Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Tech students hold a heated, long and ongoing rivalry with the University of Georgia, known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. The first known hostilities between the two institutions trace back to 1891. The University of Georgia's literary magazine proclaimed UGA's colors to be "old gold, black, and crimson". Dr. Charles H. Herty, then President of the University of Georgia, felt that old gold was too similar to yellow and that it "symbolized cowardice". After the 1893 football game against Tech, Herty removed old gold as an official color. Tech would first use old gold for their uniforms, as a proverbial slap in the face to UGA, in their first unofficial football game against Auburn in 1891. Georgia Tech's school colors would henceforth be old gold and white.
100 Miles of Hate
The universities, which first played each other in 1914, are separated by about 100 miles (161 km) of Interstate 65 and Interstate 24. For much of their football histories, they have been conference rivals in leagues such as the Ohio Valley Conference and Sun Belt Conference. The rivalry was on hiatus from 1991 to 2007, resuming after Western Kentucky transitioned to Football Bowl Subdivision play and became a football member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2009 (Western Kentucky had been a non-football member of that conference since 1982). After Middle Tennessee left the Sun Belt for Conference USA (C-USA) in 2013, the rivalry again went on hiatus. However, the rivalry was renewed in 2014 when Western Kentucky joined C-USA. The match up usually generates a substantial amount of excitement within the respective fan bases, and tensions are usually high in every meeting.