Korea University–Yonsei University rivalry

The first football match was held at the Gyeongseong Stadium in 1927.[13] From 1927 to 1942: Yonhi College (now Yonsei University) had 14 wins, and Bosung College (now Korea University) also had 14 wins. The All Joseon Football Championship was the predecessor of the National Football Championship.

Basketball was added in 1930 and was the most popular summer sport along with football contested by the two institutions.[13] Besides the "friendship games", the two teams participate in the Basketball U-League and the annual MBC Cup competition. Prior to the organization of the U-League and the establishment of the Korean Basketball League, both teams participated in the National Basketball Festival (Korean: 농구대잔치) run by the Korean Basketball Association.

Ice hockey was added in winter 1940.[13] The sport was introduced to the country in 1928 but did not gain much popularity outside of the Korea University–Yonsei University rivalry matches until the 2018 Winter Olympics. As two of the few universities in the country which sponsor ice hockey, they also play against each other in the U-League.[19]

In October 2014, Korea University won 3–2, its first win over Yonsei since 1997.[20]

Baseball was added after liberation. The two teams play in the Jamsil Baseball Stadium or Mokdong Baseball Stadium.

One of the main spectacles of the "friendship games" is the cheer battles between the students on both sides during each sporting event.[14] Students dress in either blue (Yonsei) or red (Korea) and design their own banners to display at the respective venue to support their respective university. Both institutions are known for their distinctly unique chants: Yonsei University's chant is Akaraka (아카라카) and Korea University's chant is Ipselenti (입실렌티).

After annual Yonsei-Korea (Korea-Yonsei) games, students from both schools engage in the "Train Game" (Korean: 기차놀이).[24] The game is performed in a manner similar to that of making a conga line, forming a line by holding a person in front of another by his/her shoulder. The Trains head to bars, stores, and restaurants to demand food and drinks for free. It is told to both Yonsei and Korea (Korea and Yonsei) students that the tradition originates from the 1980s when pro-democratic student demonstrations were prevalent. The shopkeepers nearby the campuses witnessed the events and sympathized with the cause, thus served food and drinks free of charge to the students.

The practice has drawn criticism, from both the community and students themselves from both universities, as being "outdated" due to inflation since the 2000's and the economic burden placed on shopkeepers and business owners in the vicinity. Complaints from local residents and business owners are mainly directed towards the rude and disruptive behavior of participating students.[25][26]

Notable alumni include former national team managers Cha Bum-kun, Huh Jung-moo, Cho Kwang-rae and Hong Myung-bo. Prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Korea Football Association (KFA) was dogged by accusations of selecting coaches and players of the national team based on hak-yeon (Hangul: 학연) – the Korean language equivalent term of "old boy network" – instead of performances during the season or individual merit. The likes of 2002 World Cup participants such as former national team captain Ahn Jung-hwan, defender Lee Young-pyo and midfielder Park Ji-sung, all of whom are alumni of other universities, finding success overseas prompted observers and fans to question the KFA's selection policy. The criticism came to a head after the failures of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the KFA's repeated selection of several underperforming players over other better performing players after it emerged that then-KFA Vice President and chairman of the technical committee Kim Ho-kon and those selected players were all alumni of Yonsei University.[28]

While college basketball in South Korea does not enjoy the same popularity as the professional Korean Basketball League, both universities are well-known for producing an illustrious line of professional basketball players, a majority of whom have represented the South Korean national team.[29][30] The 1990's were often dubbed a "golden era" of domestic college basketball with the Korea-Yonsei rivalry at its peak and both teams boasted legends such as Lee Sang-min, Moon Kyung-eun, Woo Ji-won and Seo Jang-hoon (Yonsei University) and Hyun Joo-yup, Chun Hee-chul and Shin Ki-sung (Korea University), among others.[31] Their popularity continued into their professional careers, making them some of the country's most recognizable athletes of their generation and being collectively dubbed "Oppa Troupe" (오빠부대) by the media as they enjoyed a level of popularity equivalent to that of idol singers.[32] Up until the late 2000's, Chung-Ang University was its only major rival and the three institutions have occasionally been referred to as the "big 3" institutions of college basketball. In more recent years, the rise of Kyung Hee University has challenged the dominance of the three universities.

As of the 2021-22 KBL season, seven winners of the regular season KBL Most Valuable Player Award and the head coaches of nine (out of ten) KBL teams are alumni of either university. The dominance of both Korea University and Yonsei University in the annual rookie draft has been broken to some extent by Chung-Ang, Kyung Hee and Hanyang University but its players continue to be selected within the first round or early in the second round, with fifteen being the overall first picks since the draft was first initiated (as of the 2021 rookie draft).[33] As such, the rivalry is often humorously referenced by the media or players themselves, especially during a period of time when Shin was a SPOTV commentator while Lee, Moon and Hyun were head coaches of Seoul Samsung Thunders, Seoul SK Knights and Changwon LG Sakers respectively.[34][35][31][9][36][37]

Both Yonsei University and Korea University (Korea University and Yonsei University) send many athletes to the Olympic Games. Four-time gold medalist short track speed skater Chun Lee-Kyung and gymnast Son Yeon-jae are graduates of Yonsei University.[10] Gold medalist figure skater Kim Yuna is a Korea University graduate.