Before this years Michigan OSU game, ESPN ran a poll on the greatest rivalry in SPORTS. This included Ali Frazier, Redskins Cowboys etc.... Michigan v OSU blew them all away. Simply the greatest and longest running rivalry out there. GO BLUE
If you want to consider tradition as the most important thing, Army-Navy gets the nod. If quality and tradition are considered equal, it's gotta be Alabama-Auburn. Proximity's an issue. USC and Notre Dame fans don't start kindergarten together. They don't work together or go to church together, etc. Same with Michigan and Ohio State. Then there's the Alabama factor. Only Notre Dame has more tradition than the Crimson Tide. Alabama-Auburn is an in-state, in-conference rivalry in the best conference in college football, involving a team that may stand alone -rather than level with UM or OSU- as the second greatest tradition in college football (behind Notre Dame). Auburn hasn't traditionally been quite as good as UM or OSU, but the fact that Alabama's involved makes up for that. I'm not a Tide fan at all, but them's the facts. ...and last but not least, all the other schools (except Notre Dame) are in states where more people have lives. I'm truly convinced of this.
Where's Cal- Stanford? In all sports, it's the Big Game, and the rivalry extends into academics. Heck, the old number to buy Stanford tickets for all sports was 1-800-BEAT-CAL. It's also a geographic rivalry- the two schools are right across the bay from each other. But, really, it was about which school is the best university in the West.
This poll is decidely favored toward football. There is no real note in the Army v. Navy rivalry unless it is in football. Otherwise they are two ordinary military acadamies. Geez, just add The Citedel (sp) BC v. BU is Hockey only. But if hockey, where is Maine v. New Hampshire or Wisconsin v. Minnesota? Michigan v. Ohio St is a good pick, but how do these teams do in Baseball or Track and Field? As far as I know, Football is the only sport taken seriously by Auburn and Alabama fans. I'm sure there is not much fan fare about the swimming teams... Texas v. Oklahoma is gets my vote. Two schools with a decent to good sporting history accross the board. Same confrence and usually one or the other is in the top 10 in the nation. Occationally, the match up dump one team from the national championship. USC v. Notre Dame?!?! Football only dude. And even then, USC v. UCLA is bigger. USC v. Notre Dame only gets as much coverage as it does because of the NBC contract. USC v. UCLA is similar to Cal v. Stanford. Florida v. Georgia is pretty serious as well. But until recently, the only sports that were taken serious by both universities were football and baseball. Florida doesn't have much of a presence other than that and, now, basketball. Florida v. Florida State would be better, IMO. Others that I think should be added are Wisconsin v. Minnesota, UNC v. NC St, Harvard v. Yale and the previously two mentioned - USC v. UCLA and Cal v. Stanford.
Reasonably well, regionally at least. In T&F Ohio State is very good. Of course, one thing OSU - Michigan has that nobody else does - Ohio and Michigan actually fought a war against each other... over Toledo. No joke.
I think the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State goes beyond football. The problem is there isn't other sports where they're on equal footing to go against eachother regularly. One may be very good at one, while the other is bad. Or vice versa. So fans for one school may be more amped for those sports than the other school. Btw, Texas and Oklahoma only joined the same conference in 1996. Sykotyk
UNC vs NC State is big for State, but somewhat less so for Carolina. UNC vs Dook is big in all sports because while the physical distance between the school is a matter of minutes, the psychological distance is far, far greater. Obviously, basketball is huge but the rivalry extends to other sports. There's the annual Beat Dook Parade in Chapel Hill (Carolina vs Dook is one of the oldest rivalries in football), and Dook is one of few ACC schools that have managed to beat UNC at women's soccer. Even for non-varsity sports like rugby, Carolina gets up for Dook. And there's genuine rivalry between the two student bodies, as Dook likes to think of itself as Ivy League South and Carolina as the more affordable, but no less prestigious option.
Yeah, Minnesota vs. Wisconsin has to be up there. Coming from a Minnesota student, there is some real hatred in this one. I'd also mention Minnesota vs. North Dakota.
I see the same as nutter. All good football but horrible basketball which is the only other sports that really captures any aother attention here. Perhaps the Michigan-Ohio St. because once in awhile they have decent basketball. Like was said before in football everything else including pro takes major second fiddle after USC-UCLA in So. Cal.. The schools are only what 13 miles away.
UNH - Maine - what a rivalry that one is. How about the women's gynmastics rivalry between Georgia and Alabama. Two of the best programs in the country and two teams that just hate each other, and it comes out every time they meet. When you get 11,000 fans out for a meet and they actually cheer when the other team falls from the beam (a definate no no in this sport), you know it is an intense rivlary.
The fact that Duke/Carolina isn't on there makes the entire poll irrelevant. If you're looking for other sport specific rivalries, Maryland/Hopkins is as big as they come in lacrosse.
To no one's surprise, I voted for Michigan - Ohowihate, and I thought I'd throw in that during that week in the football season, we also play each other home and away in hockey (and compete in a blood drive.)
all sports combined is tough, probably ohio st.-michigan allsports: minnesota/iowa UCLA/USC for football: o st./mich. alabama/auburn army/navy texas/oklahoma for basketball: duke/UNC (or any two of the 4 state ACC schools) MISSOURI/kansas ILLINOIS/indiana louisville/kentucky many others of course
Texas vs. Oklahoma?? you gotta be kidding me... It's Texas vs. Texas A&M. yes, A&M has sucked bad the last couple of years but the rivalry is very old and very much going strong. As much as Texas hates Oklahoma, I guarantee that they hate A&M a lot more...and the same can be said for A&M LOL
Duke and UNC is the best. I am a major Duke fan. Brought into a strong Duke family. I hate UNC fans. I hate UNC. I hate anyone related in any way to that trash hole.
As a Texas Ex, I can tell you that you're wrong, at least in my mind and in the minds of most of the Texas Exes that I know. We HATE OU with the heat and intensity of a thousand burning suns. There isn't the same hatred toward A&M, mostly because, well, they're Texans too. They're our dumber cousins. Yeah, we want to beat them like stepchildren in everything, but we don't have the same pathological hatred for them that we do for OU. However, I know it's a little different for the Ags, whose very existences revolve around beating "t.u."
USC-UCLA is not what it was more than a decade ago, at least football-wise... For a long time the Bruins dominated. And in the last few years we have re-entered an era of Trojan dominance. But it wasn't long ago that the series was far more even from year to year, when Pac-10 titles in addition to SoCal bragging rights were on the line. Still, UCLA is the only school I know of that has a whole marching band halftime show dedicated to needling 'SC - the infamous "Downfall of Troy".
Someone forgot that college athletics, much less college, isn't all about college football. Some of the choices on the poll, as well as some of those left out, are just plain stupid. As soccernutter points out: USC vs. Notre Dame? As for Cal - Stanford, it's alot worse than most people realize (most of the time, nothing besides pride is at stake). In football alone, they played their 100th+ game last year, over the Axe, which has been literally stolen by the other side. The mascots of each team require police escorts. The Stanford Band has needed riot police protection. Then there was the time when Cal fans stormed the field- at Stanford, and after losing. And for the other things, besides sports: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/11/14_biggame.shtml "The real competition heats up with the second contest of the day - football. The first game, in 1983, was coached by Nobel laureates Kenneth Arrow of Stanford and Gérard Debreu of UC Berkeley, and since then, the winner has been awarded a bronzed, apple-core trophy in honor of Arrow's and Debreu's Nobel Prize-winning theoretical work on the equilibrium (the "core") of an economy. The trophy is called the Debreau-Arrow Award, or the Arrow-Debreau Award, depending upon which team is in possession of it. "
ohio state and michigan. honestly, its not even close. ive been in oklahoma for the games they consider "rivalries" (oklahoma state, texas, ect). its a sad, sad excuse for a "rivalry".
Which brings us to that commercial they keep running on ESPN where this guy with an OSU tshirt is making out with a chick wearing a Michigan tshirt. They thought about reversing the roles but you can't show anal sex on cable tv.
Huh? Then where is UNC/Duke? KU/Mizzou? Kentucky/Louisville? Indiana/Kentucky? Oklahoma/Oklahoma State? Before Roy went to UNC, there were a couple out there that rivaled UNC/Duke. But with Roy at UNC? The hype around it makes it the best rivalry in college basketball. If Mizzou could ever churn out a top team to rival KU, that series might actually interest people outside of the Big XII. I would like to point out that aside from Kansas/Mizzou, no other college rivalry was an intragul part of the Civil War. I vote other
How does Ohio State vs Michigan even compre to UNC/Duke? You're both a bunch of Midwest bumpkins who can't spell your rival's name, let alone find them on the map. The only thing that separates you is the color of your respective sweatshirts, because the school name will only serve to confuse you. UNC vs Duke is a clash of cultures. Good vs evil. The People's University vs temporary housing for New Jerseyites trying to get away from the hellhole they call home. Southern Part of Heaven vs Gothic Theme Park. Friendly vs pompous. But what really makes this a true rivalry is the proximity. We can practically breath on each other. We'd throw bricks at each other, but we're actually civilized. If Carolina wanted to, it could send a student to Duke everyday and paint their Barbie Cathedral from top to bottom in Carolina blue, but knowing how even the possibility scares the crap out of them is enough. In return, Duke sends busloads of its students to Chapel Hill every weekend in an (mostly unsuccessful) attempt to convert Carolina students to their brotherhood of tools. The rivalry is 24/7, not just when there's a football game or that Canadian version of street hockey you crazy Midwest kids play. Carolina vs Duke goes beyond sports. We eat, drink and breathe this rivalry.