Are Duke and Michigan rivals?

Submitted by ThadMattasagoblin on

During the fab five era, the 2008 season, last year, and this year.  Everything's on the line when they play time and time again.

Drbogue

November 22nd, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^

I'm 37, I'm not old. And anytime Duke and Michigan get together it's a great game. Arch enemy rivals? Of course not, but I would hardly consider the games of the 90's as "any other game." There was a LOT more hatred than for OSU or MSU particularly in the early 90's. We measured ourselves more against the best in the nation, not so much the Big 10.

SamIam

November 23rd, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^

I live in NC and everyone around me is either a Duke or UNC fan.  Duke does NOT see Michigan as a rival.  I like to think the ground work has been laid for a rivalry between the teams but Michigan has to continue to be relevant and we need to keep competing in these types of tournaments and/or find ways to meet and beat Duke on a big stage.

RDMB2003

November 23rd, 2011 at 12:49 AM ^

 

rival |ˈrīvəl| noun - a person or thing competing with another for the same objective or for superiority in the same field of activity.

We are not traditional rivals because we don't play in the same conference but as a program, if we aspire to be the best then we need to start considering ourselves Rivals.   Michigan just beat Duke head up for a major recruit, we played to a one possession game in the tourney last year, we beat them in our gym the year before and we will play today for early season bragging rights.

We may not be rivals today in the traditional sense but if we expect to be a Great Basketball Program we need to make them consider us Rivals by kicking their ass on the court every time we play!

 

teepodum

November 22nd, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

Duke and North Carolina are rivals.  Duke and Michigan are not.  It would take a lot of very close games (with at least 1 game every year) to develop into a rivalry.

 

CRISPed in the DIAG

November 22nd, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^

I have Duke friends (yes, who were pissed about the Fab5 doc) and in my estimation, their order of BB rivals would be:

1) UNC

2) Kentucky

3) Maryland (if you squint)

4) NC State (see "Maryland" - this is another "just don't lose" games)

5) you get the point

Basically, these guys are so enamoured with themselves, they don't really require rivals.  UNC hates Duke more than Duke hates UNC (Tarheel students are largely composed of N. Carolina natives, while Duke students come from across the country).  

mgobluedevils

November 22nd, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^

FYI: Largely accurate list...although when Maryland was good around the turn of the century they were a "tenting game" as well as UNC and I would argue our second biggest rival. Duke also recruits heavily from the DMV region, and the two schools are both competitive rivals in MLax, which adds to it. The Ky thing has taken a recent dimension with Calipari snagging JWall over Coach K and taking quite a different approach to managing his team than Coack K, but since we don't usually play them each year (while we usually play My twice) I don't think they are even really as big rivals as State.

And I don't know what you are talking about, Duke hates UNC plenty.

CRISPed in the DIAG

November 22nd, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^

I didn't mean Duke doesn't hate UNC, just that UNC's hatred is more acute and ingrained. I lived in Raleigh for awhile and noticed that the natives aligned with UNC or State and generally despised Duke. Meanwhile, Duke hatred for UNC, while very deep, was generally learned behavior because Duke students were rarely from NC.

ClearEyesFullHart

November 22nd, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^

Duke/North Carolina rivals UM/OSU for greatest rivalries in sport.

Although they do play each other pretty often(at least for the last couple decades) I highly doubt  that Duke considers Michigan, or any non-ACC team their rivals.

For me though, in basketball, it is second only to UM-MSU.  I want that win tonight.  Bad. 

Drbogue

November 22nd, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^

Duke is certainly a rivalry with Michigan in bball! Of course, I went to Michigan during the Fab Five. And we did break their non conference win streak at home in the late 90's when we sucked. We used to play them every year it seemed...

LSAClassOf2000

November 22nd, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^

We don't play them often enough, at least not now (seemed like it was different in the 80s and 90s), and especially lately, we haven't won enough, it seems. 

Hopefully, we can change that in the coming years. I liked watching Duke and I like the idea of a revived Michigan basketball program giving a whiny fanbase more to whine about. 

mgobluedevils

November 22nd, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^

Everyone thinks they are our rival...name the last time a team beat Duke and didn't rush their home court. Just like Michigan football, Duke basketball draws the best out of all opponents. And just like U of M, we only have one true rival (and at times unfortunately resort to elitist remarks at our state's major agrilculturally founded public institution).

-undergrad's opinion

jmblue

November 22nd, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^

During the fab five era, the 2008 season, last year, and this year. Everything's on the line when they play time and time again.

How was "everything on the line" in the 2008 game? It was an early-season game, nothing more. Same for this one. Let's not go crazy here. Yeah, it was a big deal for about 5-6 years in the 1990s, but then it died.

WolverineLake

November 22nd, 2011 at 9:45 PM ^

  I think asking that question during the week of The Game is gonna get a lot of 'definitely nots.'

 

  I wouldn't consider them a rival.  Duke's rival is UNC, and we don't have nearly the same deal as the Tarheels.  That's a big one.

 

  However, I think we have an academic thing going on with them.  I mean, those guys are fargin' arrogant and can back it up.  So can Michigan (amIright? amIright?).  So, I think between the scholastics and frequent classic games, it's definitely ... something.

 

  I do hate them.  Does that make a difference?

maizenbluedevil

November 22nd, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^

From Duke's perspective, no.

From Michigan's perspective....  maybe(?)

Everyone that doesn't love Duke hates Duke.

Hatred of Duke is not unique to Michigan. 

However....  I think Michigan and Michigan fans have more specifically articulated reasons for hating Duke than most others do.  (mainly going back to the Fab Five stuff.)

IMO though this isn't enough to constitute a "rivalry," and on Duke's side of things, Michigan is not viewed as a rival.