November 22, 2010
It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and it has nothing to do with turkey. It is rivalry season in college football. The time of year when good seasons can become great, when disappointing seasons can be saved and when coaches can buy themselves an extra year of employment. It’s what separates college football from every other sport.
Only in college football can a win or loss against your arch-rival completely alter the perception of just how successful your season was. Don’t believe me? Ask former Ohio State Coach John Cooper how important it is to beat your rival. He averaged ten wins a season in Columbus. He also won a Rose Bowl. However, his record against Michigan was awful. He was let go.
Rivalries can be created a few different ways. Most times contempt builds between schools that are located a short distance from each other. I’ve long felt in-state rivalries are the most intense and bitter. Say what you will about Michigan-Ohio State, if you root for either and live in that state, your neighbors are much more likely to pull for the same team as you. If a new family moves onto your street in Alabama, you have no idea whether they will open the door and yell, “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle!” In state rivalries pit family members against each other.
A traitor can kick a rivalry up to a whole new level of hatred. When Ohio State assistant Bo Schembechler took the heading coach job at Michigan, the protege of Woody Hayes did just that. The Wolverines upset previously unbeaten OSU in 1969 and the “Ten-Year War” was born.
Proximity is not completely necessary to have a rivalry with another school. In some cases, rivalries can develop when two teams are both good for a period of time and play meaningful games against each other each year. Most of the time, those rivalries are temporary, but it doesn’t mean they are any less intense. Take the Colts-Patriots games in the NFL. In 2000, or at any point prior to the turn of the century, how interesting were games between those two franchises? Now, every time they square off it is must see TV.
In college football, the equivalent series to me would be Notre Dame-Miami. In the late 1980s thru 1990, those two programs were competing for the national championship each year. At that time, it was the game of the year in college football. Miami fired up the Irish fans by destroying ND in Gerry Faust’s last game as head coach 59-7. The flames were fanned by the Golden Domers a few years later when students popularized t-shirts that billed the upcoming game with the Canes as “Catholics vs. Convicts.” There is no question the two sides had quickly grown to think of each other as rivals. Then the series stopped. Each school fell off the national radar, and it is now a five year footnote in history.
People say you can’t manufacture a rivalry. That is true. Although, you can manufacture one with a little luck. When Penn State entered the Big Ten, the head coach of Michigan State at the time requested that PSU be the yearly end of season game for the Spartans. A trophy was even created that would go to the annual winner of the contest. Entering Saturday’s game, the Lions have won 13 of the 17 meetings since they joined the Big Ten. No Nittany Lion fan thinks of MSU as a rival. It is simply the last game of the season. The Big Ten school that gets the blood boiling of most PSU fans is Michigan (with Ohio State a clear second). Why? Michigan beat the Lions nine times in a row. Think about it. If you reverse the results of all Penn State games with the state of Michigan, PSU has two budding rivalries. If MSU was consistently ending Penn State’s seasons with losses (some of which have been down right embarrassing), PSU fans would seethe at the sight of the green and white.
Conversely, if the Maize and Blue had gone over a decade without a win against the Nittany Lions, and if they had felt cheated by officiating on more than one occasion, you can guarantee the match-ups with Penn State would be a lot higher on the Wolverines list of priorities. It would not be as important as the Ohio State game, but there is no doubt that constant losing by a program that feels superior will get a rivalry going.
I’ve been told by former Pitt Sports Information Director turned ESPN analyst Beano Cook that the Pitt-Penn State series meant more to PSU than Pitt, “until Joe Paterno got there and beat Pitt ten years in a row.”
So how do you grow the perfect rivalry? Take two schools in the same state or at least region, preferably a short cab ride apart. Have each school dominate the series for a while (or if one school has more history and tradition than the other... have them lose over and over to the inferior little guy). Once hatred is established on each side, play games with championship implications for another decade. If you can get a coach from one team to take a head coaching job at the other school, that would be great. Otherwise, the best high school player in that state has to turn his back on his home school and go the hated rival.
Lastly, get yourself a cool trophy to play for each season. One that is easily recognizable and has a catchy name. The Old Oaken Bucket, the Jeweled Shillelagh and Floyd of Rosedale are all up for grabs this weekend. Do those games have each of my suggestions for growing a rivalry? No. But who cares? As long as you hate someone that hates you back... it’s that perfect time of year.
Bowl Projections:
BCS Championship Game - Auburn (SEC Champ) over Oregon (Pac 10 Champ)
Rose Bowl - Wisconsin (Big Ten Champ) vs. Boise State (At-large)
Sugar Bowl - LSU (At-large) vs. Ohio State (At-large)
Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech (ACC Champ) vs. TCU (At-large)
Fiesta Bowl - Nebraska (Big 12 Champ) vs. Pitt (Big East Champ)
Capital One Bowl - Michigan State vs. Alabama
Outback Bowl - Iowa vs. South Carolina
Cotton Bowl - Oklahoma vs. Arkansas
Gator Bowl - Penn State vs. Florida
Chick-Fil-A Bowl - Mississippi State vs. NC State
Champs Sports Bowl - Miami vs. Notre Dame
Games of the Week:
Auburn @ Alabama - The 2010 Iron Bowl is the biggest game left on the college football schedule. Can Cam Newton finish off a perfect regular season or will the Tide finish a disappointing season by knocking their rivals out of the title game? Last year, the Tigers came within two minutes of ruining Bama’s perfect season. This one appears to be a shootout with Auburn averaging 42.8 points a game and Alabama scoring 35.3 a game. But this is a rivalry game, and a bitter one at that. I think Auburn ekes out a tough one to stay perfect.
Arizona @ Oregon - The Ducks can also take one more step towards Glendale with a win here over the Wildcats. They will still have their Civil War match-up next week with Oregon State, but Oregon can clinch the Pac Ten’s BCS bid with a victory. Considering Oregon managed only 15 points last week (with one TD coming on special teams), their high octane offense will be looking to make up for its poor performance last week. Zona has some offensive fire power themselves with QB Nick Foles, but in Eugene, I’ll take the Ducks to stay perfect.
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State - They call this rivalry series Bedlam. That would imply pure chaos. This series has been anything but bedlam. In the previous 104 meetings, the Sooners have won 80. That’s right 80! This year, the Cowboys are actually favored and advance to the Big 12 Championship game with a victory. Oklahoma is playing well as of late, and they are very comfortable playing with high stakes. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part (hoping for one last Oklahoma-Nebraska championship game before the Huskers bolt for the Big Ten), but I’ll take big brother to continue its dominance of this series.
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