**Since Brass Monkey is off right now and the original thread got locked, lets try this again**

Ok who ya got? Which do you think are some of the best and some of the most underrated? Maybe a conference breakdown would be good? Start out with basketball I guess.

Basketball
Tobacco Road/Big Four rivalry - Yeah Carolina vs. Duke is the headliner right now, but State vs. Carolina, Carolina vs. Wake, Duke vs. Wake, State vs. Duke, and Wake vs. State (these two teams have met the most of any ACC teams and often play each other on the final day of the regular season). The passion regularly seen in these games is almost unmatched by other college rivalries.

Kentucky vs. Louisville aka the Battle for the Bluegrass - Surprisingly these two teams did not meet very often from the 1930s to the 1980s. They met in the 1983 Elite Eight with Louisville prevailing 80-64. The game sparked a lot of interest amongst the fans and the university officials so much that they started meeting regularly ever since.

Philadelphia Big 5 (Temple, La Salle, Villanova, St. Joe's, Penn) - Despite not having historically outstanding teams, few rivalries match the intensity and history of the Big 5 rivalry. The teams play a round robin series. The games are played at one of college basketball's cathedrals, The Palestra. The only game not played at The Palestra is the Villanova-St. Joe's game which those schools play each other on their home courts. The Villanova vs. St. Joe's game is usually the most hotly contested and has been given the nickname "The Holy War". There has been a push to include Drexel in the Big 5, especially after they beat 3 of the 4 Big 5 teams they faced in 2006-2007 season.

The Palestra - Capacity: 8,722



Indiana vs. Purdue - What rivalry list would be complete without this rivalry from the Hoosier state, one of the most basketball crazed states out there. For a long time this rivalry was a battle of two coaching legends, Bobby Knight and Gene Keady. Both schools have more Big Ten titles than any other school in the conference, with Purdue having 21 and Indiana having 20. Despite Indiana being the more storied program, Purdue actually leads the series 107-83, which began in 1901.

Crosstown Shootout (Cincinnati vs. Xavier) - Starting in 1927, the Crosstown Shootout is one of the most hotly contested rivalries in college basketball. It has many similarities to the Duke-Carolina rivalry. Xavier is a small, private college and Cincinnati is a large, state university. Both schools are very close to each other. Cincinnati has won the game 47 times, while Xavier has won 27. This disparity can be accounted to two periods where the Bearcats just completely dominated the Musketeers. Cincinnati won games against Xavier for a period of 10 straight years (1957-67), which included 12 games and again for an 8 year period (1972-79) which saw UC win 8 straight. Outside of those two periods of domination the rivalry has gone back and forth with no team winning more than 3 straight.

Border War (Missouri vs. Kansas) - These two states hatred for each other goes back to when the two states were actually at war with each other during the 1850s. While Kansas has dominated the series, the games are always passionate and often very close. The games bring out the best in the respective fanbases. I still think Missouri should have stayed in the Hearnes Center. That place was hella loud.

Syracuse vs. Connecticut - Talk about a high profile showdown. This rivalry pits two future Hall of Fame coaches, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun, against each other and two of the best programs of the past 20 years in not just the Big East, but nationally.


Underrated: Davidson vs. Charlotte, Texas vs. Texas A&M, Kentucky vs. Florida (this one is becoming one of the best), UCLA vs. Arizona, Wisconsin vs. Marquette, Duke vs. Maryland, Providence vs. BC vs. BU vs. URI, Indiana vs. Butler, Bradley vs. Southern Illinois vs. Creighton vs. Wichita State vs. Missouri State (basically all the best MVC schools; the games between those five schools are usually great), Washington vs. Washington State

12/13/2007 2:18:30 AM

Don't screw this one up.

12/13/2007 2:23:12 AM

i've always wanted to attend a big 5 game and i hope to be able to do so sometime in the near future

i still dont think those games get enough coverage

12/13/2007 2:23:58 AM

IMO nothing tops a good SEC rivalry. UGA vs Florida comes to mind. As does UGA vs UT. Other than UNC vs Duke, or OSU vs Michigan, nothing tops a good SEC rivalry.

12/13/2007 2:27:17 AM

plz to specify which sport

12/13/2007 2:28:18 AM

i've been to a villanova/st. joe's game, my cousin is a villanova alum

and i've been to a duke/carolina game (albeit in chapel hill)

the atmosphere at the palestra blows the dean dome off the damn map

12/13/2007 2:30:04 AM

i wouldn't be able to go to a st. joe's game without watching the mascot the whole time

12/13/2007 2:31:15 AM

ac milan vs. inter milan...derby della madonnina...the milan derby

12/13/2007 3:41:10 AM

Army - Navy

12/13/2007 8:14:52 AM

Football
Army vs. Navy vs. Air Force for the Commander In Chief's Trophy - Perhaps the purest rivalry in all of college sports, this 3 way rivalry is all about brotherhood and honor. They will battle for 3-4 hours on a football field, but once they graduate they will go into battle alongside each other. The Army vs. Navy game is the headliner and has been held in Philadelphia the most, but has been held frequently in Maryland and some times New York. Ever since the trophy was introduced in 1972 Air Force has dominated the series winning it 16 times, Navy 10, and Army 6.

Commander In Chief's Trophy



Michigan vs. Ohio State - Quite possibly the best college football rivalry. Ohio State football players that beat Michigan receive necklace charms that are gold pants with the year and score of the victory. This tradition was started by former coach Francis Schmidt, who remarked in 1934 about a heavily favored Michigan team "They put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as we do!" Archie Griffin has even said that he is more proud of his three gold pants than his two Heisman Trophies. One of Ohio State's fight songs goes "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan. We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O!" Currently there is a piece on the rivalry on HBO. If you have HBO On Demand, I suggest you watching it.


The Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn) - Quite possibly the other best college football rivalry. Talk about hatred, this is perhaps the most heated rivalry in all of college football. In the state of Alabama you don't get to decide which team is your favorite, it's decided for you when you are born. There once you are born you have an Auburn or an Alabama t-shirt put on you and your picture taken. Auburn hates Alabama b/c for so long Bama and Bear Bryant refused to play them at Auburn, and would only meet them at Legion Field in Birmingham. The two schools finally reached an agreement and on December 2, 1989, Alabama came to Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time in the history of the rivalry. A sellout crowd would witness Auburn win its first true "home" game of the series, 30-20 over an Alabama team that entered the game unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country. Since the change in 1989 Alabama has only won twice when not playing in Birmingham, while Auburn has won 11 times.


Florida vs. Miami vs. Florida State - With these rivalries these three teams perhaps have the greatest collection of speed in the college game. The Sunshine State is mainly known for producing some of the fastest players in college football. This was no more evident than when Miami and FSU and later Florida were just dominating teams in the 80s and 90s. There have been numerous games between the three that have been instant classics. Miami vs. FSU is known as Wide Right. Miami vs. Florida is known as the Battle for the Seminole War Canoe.


Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (Georgia Tech vs. Georgia) - 5 National Championships (GT:4, UGA:1) have come from these two schools. Tech is the science and engineering school located in the big city, while UGA is the darling of the state liberal arts school that is followed by all the rednecks of the state and located in a college town. Where have I heard that one before? The "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" was first published in the Georgia Tech yearbook, The Blueprint,[5] and was written following the first UGA football game in which UGA fans harassed the Georgia Tech players and fans.[5] Hence the infamous chorus "To Hell with Georgia" was written.
Excerpt:
Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in white and gold,
And put her on the campus To cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do--
He'd yell: 'TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!' Like his daddy used to do.


Red River Shootout (Oklahoma vs. Texas) - The Big 12 South Championship most often is determined by this game. This annual rivalry is played in the Cotton Bowl during the Texas State fair. One half of the stadium is Burnt Orange and the other half is Crimson and Cream. Oklahoma fans see Texas fans as fake cowboys and routinely give the "Horns Down" sign.


Notre Dame vs. USC aka The Greatest Intersectional Rivalry in college football - This is what you get when you have two teams that both have 11 national championships and 7 Heisman Trophy winners. The two teams play for the Jeweled Shillelagh, a Gaelic war club adorned with emerald-emblazoned clovers signifying Irish victories and Ruby-emblazoned Trojan warrior heads for Trojan wins.



The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (Florida vs. Georgia) - These border teams annually meet in Jacksonville that for some is a week long party. The game was first held in Jacksonville in 1915 in the teams' second meeting (won by Georgia 39-0). The game has been held in Jacksonville every year since 1933, except for 1994 and 1995, when the contest was held on the respective schools' campus stadiums due to the rebuilding of Alltel Stadium for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. The crowd in the stadium is always split 50-50 between the two schools' fans. The majority of the tailgating takes place on riverfront plaza called "The Jacksonville Landing", facing the St. Johns River. The Landing is packed with thousands of drunk revelers each year. The partying is so out of hand that 3 people have died in UF/UGA related partying downtown since the 2004 game.

12/13/2007 11:13:58 AM

ACC Football
1. FSU vs. Miami (no doubt that this is No. 1)
2. Viriginia Tech vs. Miami
3. Georgia Tech vs. Clemson
4. Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
5. UNC vs. State (while the two teams have not been historically good, you won't find many other rivalries as volatile as this one, and a number of classic games have occurred between these two teams. throw out the record book when these two meet.)
6. State vs. FSU (a very competive series as of late and probably the second most anticipated each year behind the UNC game for State fans)
7. Clemson vs. FSU aka the Bowden Bowl (Clemson has started to dominate the series in the past 3 years or so)
8. Clemson vs. State aka the Textile Bowl
9. Maryland vs. State (there is so much hatred between these two schools and despite the recent 37-0 blowout, most of the games are very close)
10. Maryland vs. Virginia
11. Maryland vs. Virginia Tech
12. State vs. Wake
13. UNC vs. UVA aka The South's Oldest Rivalry
14. UVA vs. FSU aka The Battle for the Jefferson-Eppes Trophy
15. Miami vs. BC a battle of old Big East foes (the Flutie game is the most memorable of this series)
16. BC vs. State (After the 2005 Turfgate with BC watering down the fake turf, the classic game in 2006, this game looked like it could end up becoming one of the better Atlantic Division rivalries. Then TOB left BC and came to State and it has gotten downright ugly.)
17. UNC vs. Duke aka The Toilet Bowl (common sounds heard at this game are "wait i thought this was going to be a basketball game" and "whoo after this game we won't have anymore stories on the football program to take away from the basketball team")
18. BC vs. VT (another holdover from the Big East)
19. FSU vs. Georgia Tech
20. Wake vs. UNC

That's my top 20 football rivalries in the ACC. Of course a lot of them can be interchangeable, generally in increments of 5, like say the rivalries in the 6-10 range.

12/13/2007 3:02:51 PM

we have a rivalry with BC?

that's news to me

12/13/2007 3:06:16 PM

SEC Football
1. Alabama vs. Auburn aka The Iron Bowl
2. Georgia vs. Florida aka The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party
3. Florida vs. Tennessee
4. Alabama vs. Tennessee aka Third Saturday In October
5. Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State aka The Egg Bowl
6. Georgia vs. Tennessee
7. Auburn vs. Georgia aka The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
8. LSU vs. Alabama
9. LSU vs. Auburn
10. LSU vs. Arkansas aka The Battle for the Golden Boot
11. Tennessee vs. Kentucky
12. LSU vs. Florida
13. Florida vs. South Carolina (mainly b/c of the Spurrier connection)
14. Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt
15. Tennessee vs. South Carolina
16. Florida vs. Auburn (it sucks that they can't play each other every year)
17. Alabama vs. Arkansas
18. Auburn vs. Arkansas
19. Ole Miss vs. Arkansas (will be even more heated now that Nutt is at Ole Miss)
20. Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt aka The Battle for SEC East futility (but seriously this game is often for last place in the SEC East)

12/13/2007 3:27:28 PM

if you do a big ten list, please don't include all those stupid trophies

12/13/2007 3:29:09 PM

i think some of us are devaluing rivalries

12/13/2007 3:29:10 PM

Quote :

"The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party"

Quote :

"Red River Shootout"

thank you for keeping it real and not calling them by their pussified political correct names

12/13/2007 3:31:17 PM

Quote :

"i think some of us are devaluing rivalries"

I couldn't agree more.

12/13/2007 3:33:01 PM

well for the conference ones, it felt stupid to call them "hotly contested games".

12/13/2007 4:42:49 PM

Quote :

"Michigan vs. Ohio State - Quite possibly the best college football rivalry. Ohio State football players that beat Michigan receive necklace charms that are gold pants with the year and score of the victory. This tradition was started by former coach Francis Schmidt, who remarked in 1934 about a heavily favored Michigan team "They put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as we do!" Archie Griffin has even said that he is more proud of his three gold pants than his two Heisman Trophies. One of Ohio State's fight songs goes "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan. We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O!" Currently there is a piece on the rivalry on HBO. If you have HBO On Demand, I suggest you watching it. "

hahah that is awesome, i do believe that is the #1 rivalry

12/13/2007 4:47:08 PM

for the SEC Tennessee vs. Alabama is much much bigger in the grand scheme of things than Tennessee vs. Florida. Florida was a whipping boy for many many years, that rivalry only got nuts when Spurrier arrived, but the Third Saturday In October has been hardcore hatred for decades.

12/13/2007 4:50:17 PM

how would you rank the SEC rivalries JayBee?

1. Auburn - Alabama
2. Florida - Georgia
3.
4.
5.

12/13/2007 4:51:20 PM

if you are talking about ALL TIME, like going back to the 30s and shit then it would be:

SEC Football
1. Alabama vs. Auburn aka The Iron Bowl (far and away, nothing in the country is close outside of Michigan/Ohio State)
2. Alabama vs. Tennessee aka Third Saturday In October
3. Georgia vs. Florida aka The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party
4. Auburn vs. Georgia aka The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
5. Florida vs. Tennessee
6. LSU vs. Auburn
7. Georgia vs. Tennessee
8.. Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State aka The Egg Bowl
9. LSU vs. Alabama
10. LSU vs. Arkansas aka The Battle for the Golden Boot
11. Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt
12. LSU vs. Florida
13. Florida vs. South Carolina (mainly b/c of the Spurrier connection)
14. Tennessee vs. Kentucky
15. Tennessee vs. South Carolina
16. Florida vs. Auburn (it sucks that they can't play each other every year)
17. Alabama vs. Arkansas
18. Auburn vs. Arkansas
19. Ole Miss vs. Arkansas (will be even more heated now that Nutt is at Ole Miss)
20. Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt aka The Battle for SEC East futility (but seriously this game is often for last place in the SEC East)

12/13/2007 4:57:44 PM

I would put

1 - Auburn vs Alabama
2 - Georgia vs Florida
3 - UT vs Georgia
4- UT vs Florida
5 - UT vs Alabama

12/13/2007 4:59:20 PM

then you don't know anything about ut/alabama

12/13/2007 5:00:22 PM

^ no way... I personally agree, but then again I grew up liking Bama too (dad is from there), and went to UT when the Florida/Spurrier hatred was at its peak and I hate Georgia more than any other SEC team, but in the grand scheme of things Alabama/Tennessee is much bigger.

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 5:03 PM. Reason : s]

12/13/2007 5:02:35 PM

It all depends on where you live I suppose. People in Tennessee or Alabama are gonna say its one thing, people in Georgia and Florida are gonna say another. I grew up near Tennesse right along the border of where UGA and UT fans meet, and it was a much bigger rivalry when UGA and UT played.


Traditionally UT Abalama is a bigger rivalry, but I think the fans care more about UT Georgia, or UT Florida.



[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 5:05 PM. Reason : ]

12/13/2007 5:03:00 PM

The only reason why I didn't put Tennessee vs. Alabama at 3 above Tennessee vs. Florida was b/c I thought that Tennessee fans actually hated Florida fans slightly more than Alabama fans, and also b/c it's an SEC East battle which could determine the standings and who goes to the SEC championship game.

12/13/2007 5:03:58 PM

i guess it's all a matter of perspective

i have approximately 300 family members who graduated from ut and they definitely hate bama more than florida or uga

12/13/2007 5:05:55 PM

^^ yeah, ever since its split into divisions the Florida/Georgia/Tennessee triangle of hatred has definitely grown


^ yeah, anyone I know over 35 who went to UT... its not even close, they cant stand Bama, but most people under would say Florida and Georgia probably

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 5:07 PM. Reason : d]

12/13/2007 5:06:07 PM

dont forget about some of the good interconference rivalries like Clemson South Carolina

12/13/2007 5:07:43 PM

yea after living down here in greenville sc during football season this year, i definitely experienced the SC/Clemson rivalry big time.

12/13/2007 5:11:20 PM

you can listen to a sports talk radio station anywhere in the state of south carolina during any month of the year and they're either talking about Carolina or Clemson or both

12/13/2007 5:12:40 PM

Interconference/Intersectional Football Rivalries (these are just some that I nominate; they aren't in order)

USC vs. ND aka The Best Intersectional Rivalry in College Football (it's pretty interesting how this rivalry got started)
Michigan vs. ND
Michigan State vs. ND aka The Battle for the Megaphone
Boston College vs. ND aka The Holy War
Purdue vs. ND (they play for the Shillelagh Trophy; a co-worker of mine that is a Purdue alum hates ND more than Indiana, but he wasn't originally from Indiana)
Navy vs. ND (while ND owned the rivalry and it wasn't that entertaining of a game, it was nice to see ND honor the Naval Academy for helping the school out when it was in desperate times financially)
Iowa vs. Iowa State
Clemson vs. South Carolina aka The Battle of the Palmetto State
FSU vs. Florida
Miami vs. Florida
UCF vs. USF aka The War on I-4
GT vs. UGA
VT vs. WVU (VT needs to stop being pussies and schedule them again)
Maryland vs. WVU
UK vs. UL
Arkansas vs. Texas
Pitt vs. Penn State aka The Pennsylvania Classic (those two schools need to start playing again)
Marshall vs. WVU aka The Friends of Coal Bowl
Colorado vs. Colorado State aka The Rocky Mountain Showdown
Harvard vs. Yale aka The Game (while the football isn't great the pranks are )

12/13/2007 5:35:57 PM

ND is listed way to many times.

12/13/2007 5:37:56 PM

i hate maryland's football team just about as much as anyone else in the conference except unc

12/13/2007 5:43:33 PM

^^Well I can't help that they have some good series with Michigan, USC, Purdue, Boston College, and Michigan State

^same here, but I look forward to the FSU game more. I'm glad it is a home game when UNC is an away game. It guarantees that we will at least have one game a year that brings out the best in our home crowd.

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 5:45 PM. Reason : ]

12/13/2007 5:44:14 PM

^^^^
Miami versus Notre Dame should be on that list. They haven't played for almost 20 years, but those games were intense in the late 80's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholics_vs._Convicts

12/13/2007 5:53:14 PM

Quote :

"Navy vs. ND"

12/13/2007 5:55:43 PM

Like I said the Navy vs. ND rivalry wasn't about the play on the field, but rather about the honor between the two schools. No one has a problem with listing Navy vs. Army, and the play in that rivalry is sometimes downright pathetic.

12/13/2007 5:57:45 PM

but the army/navy game has actually been competitive

i know navy and notre dame play one another every year, and there's respect, and blah blah blah

but when one team has won 46 out of the last 47 (i think), it isn't a comptetitive rivalry

12/13/2007 6:00:07 PM

well we'll strike it from the list then.

12/13/2007 6:04:37 PM

i'm sure you'll get to it eventually

but the backyard brawl is one of the most awesome rivalries in sports

as far as pure hatred goes, it doesn't get more livid than that game

12/13/2007 6:05:56 PM

yeah I was going to do a little paragraph on that one when I got to the Big East. The only reason why it wasn't in the first post about some of the best overall football rivalries was b/c it doesn't have the national notoriety that the Red River Shootout and the Iron Bowl have.

that definitely is one of those "throw the records out the window" series, as proven by this years meeting and a 4 win Pitt team upsetting a West Virginia team poised to go to the national title game.

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 6:11 PM. Reason : ]

12/13/2007 6:10:01 PM

speaking of rivlaries... any of you bitches up for a little Bama/Auburn action on xbox live?

12/13/2007 6:38:11 PM

one day, every game will be a rivalry

12/13/2007 7:03:33 PM

Not really true about Bama/Auburn.

It's not that the Bear wouldn't play them in Auburn, it's that the state of Alabama wouldn't allow it.

In the late 40's the state legislature took control of the situation, and decided that the schools would play at a neutral site in Birmingham, with tickets being split. It wasn't until the late 80's that both schools made a push to play at their home campuses, but only Auburn made the switch immediately.

Some UA trustees and boosters heavily fought the move, as this generated much of an economic boom into Birmingham, but they finally brought it back to Tuscaloosa in 2000.

12/13/2007 9:42:59 PM

Big Ten Football
1. Michigan vs. Ohio State (was there any doubt this would be No. 1)

ok I need help from the Big Ten country people with this one. what are the next best ones? Michigan vs. Michigan State? Minnesota vs. Wisconsin? Penn State vs. Ohio State?

12/13/2007 9:48:53 PM

i think the tOSU psu rivalry is inflated a bit...i grew up around A LOT of penn state fans and my dad's side of the family is all ohio so i got quite a taste of it...penn state is still relatively new to to the big 10 so the history isn't there yet...but they do play every year so...

purists may argue that osu/illinois is bigger...or once was

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 9:56 PM. Reason : ]

12/13/2007 9:55:05 PM

Quote :

"one day, every game will be a rivalry "

i second that... any "in conference" game that is played the damn commentator always says "blah blah blah... history of this rivlary between these teams"

and im just flat out sick of it. whoever said it is right, it seems any inconference game they call it a rivalry


the big ten best rivalries (there are only around 5-6) because of my reasoning right above this sentence

1) michigan/osu
2) wisconsin/minnesota (battle for the ax)
3) michigan/minnesota (brown jug, OLDEST rivalry in the big ten. even before the you know what rivalry
4) michigan/michigan state (paul bunyan trophy, in state rivalry)
5) indiana/purdue (oaken bucket)

12/13/2007 10:25:38 PM

Quote :

"Harvard vs. Yale"

since when were Harvard and Yale in different conferences?

12/13/2007 10:26:51 PM