The VMI–William & Mary football rivalry between the VMI Keydets and the William & Mary Tribe is a match-up between two historic public universities, the Virginia Military Institute and the College of William and Mary, in the state of Virginia. While the rivalry has lost intensity since William & Mary departed from the Southern Conference in 1977, the Tribe and Keydets maintain the series through frequent non-conference match-ups. The series is the second-longest for William & Mary (after the Capital Cup with Richmond), and the longest for VMI at 88 games.The football series began in 1905 and has been played a total of 88 times as of 2011.