Best In-State Rivalry list? Per ESPN
Yesterday on College Football Live, ESPN made a list of the best in-state rivalries and debated where BYU vs Utah would fit in. Notably missing from this list was Michigan vs Michigan State as well as Georgia vs Georgia Tech and a few other notables. Where do you feel that the Michigan vs Michigan State rivalry lands in college football?
ESPN's list:
Alabama vs Auburn
USC vs UCLA
Florida vs Florida State
Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State
Oregon vs Oregon State
South Carolina vs Clemson
Making this worse was the fact that it was delivered by Joe Tessitore, whos spray-tan, botox'd forehead and absurdly white teeth seriously bother me. I am waiting for the day that they let Samantha Ponder run the show again.
I read that and thought Florida-Florida State. Disregard that comment.
Miami is in the Coastal and FSU is in the Atlantic, but it's a protected crossover.
There are waaaayyy more MSU threads than OSU or ND threads on this site. MSU is our biggest rival in 2 out of our 3 revenue sports. MSU recently won our game 4 years in a row, and the game this past season was very, very close. The ND series is coming to an end soon. Many of you try to make the distinction that you respect OSU but not MSU, so that OSU is a rivalry but MSU is just an annoyance. But presence of respect is NOT a prerequisite to a rivalry. I hope those of you that make comments about MSU not being a rivalry are just joking, because otherwise you're being ridiculous.
Your thread comment is true, but couldn't the number of MSU threads be attributed as much to the general ass-hatedness of their players and student body as the rivalry?
Even granting your contention that State is our biggest rival in 2 out of 3 revenue sports (I'm not sure what your claimed third revenue sport is), perhaps you didn't notice, but this thread is about football. Somebody is being ridiculous here.
Go home owl, you're drunk.
1. Gateway to B1G title: it seems like 9 times out of 10 the one who wins "The Game" is the title winner/now playing for the title, barring sanctions.
2. Timing: the fact that "The Game" is the last week of the season sets it up to be more important, even more so the last 15 seasons with the BCS system.
I agree with you 100% about the fact that state took for in a row and Michigan fans should be outraged, however, the sentiment seems to me at least that since we finally got the monkey off our back last season and we are tearing into state on he recruiting trail again, the consensus seems to be that things will go back to normal in a short time. I'm not saying that feeling is justified, but that seems to be most people's feelings. State will soon fall back into obscurity.
On the other hand their is talk (and a lot of talk from talking heads and he espn hype machine) that a new ten year war is beginning. The rivalry with ohio can be solidified as 100% healthy with a Michigan win at home in November.
Despite the fact that we may (questionably) be bigger rivals with state in the other two major sports is almost irrelevant when football is as big and as tradition rich as it is here at Michigan. Despite the fact that our basketball team was extremely successful they do not have the most all-time wins nor have hey been playing 134 seasons. It may not be fair but football dominates the scene and therefor your largest rivalries stem from there. I could be wrong. I fact I could be way off-base. However, I do believe the majority of fans would agree.
Whos face would you rather look at?
Fake tan botox crest whitestrips man, or smokin hot Sam?
Sam is nice, but she is no Charissa Thompson.
Sam is smokin hot, but less call a spade a spade. I'm sure she's more fake than him...colored hair, fake tan, botox, whitened teeth, etc. I bet she does just as much of that as he does if not more.
....maybe...but who would you rather look at? The switch happeened a month ago and College Football Live hasen't been the same since. I can take an overload of SEC news when its delivered by her and not the guy who takes every opportunity to rip into everything B1G related
She's smokin. NESN has a history of putting hot chicks on their crew too...Heidi Watney, Jenni Dell, Hazel Mai, etc...definately makes watching Boston sports bearable.
MSU vs. CMU. End thread.
Michigan States' series record against Central is 6-3. LOLSparty!
Normally I'd say that rivalries are only rivalries is the series records are close, but this actually qualifies as close, so you win.
Ignoring ties, SC has a winning percentage against UCLA of about 61%; Oregon's is 56%; Alabama (surprisingly) only 54%; Florida 61%; Clemson, 67%; Michigan, 68%. But Oklahoma has a winning percentage of 82% over OK State. My view is that when one side dominates a series that dramatically, it devalues the concept that it truly is a rivalry. I would put Michigan-MSU above Oklahoma-OK State for that reason alone.
Yes and if you include BYU-Utah, Utah leads 59%, Stanford tops Cal by 51%, and Texas leads TAMU 64%; so any of those are better rivals by that logic.
(Plus with Stanford- Cal even the band has gotten involved.) /s
Should BYU vs Utah even be considered based on everyones feelings listed above?
Living in Utah now, I can safely say that Utah-BYU is an enormous rivalry. The two schools/coaches/fans/players legitimately HATE one another, and they games usually come down to the end or some sort of crazy play.
Is SC/UCLA really that big of a deal? I would think Stanford/Cal, KU/KSU, Ole Miss/MSU, UT/TAM, FSU/Miami would all be better. L'Ville/UK and Duke/UNC if it's basketball.
It used to be. Back in the 70's when the Big Ten was the Big 2 and Little 8, the Pac-10 wasn't that much different. From about 67 - 80, I think only 3 times was someone other than USC or UCLA in the Rose Bowl - Stanford 2x and Washington once. Granted, USC went quite a bit more than UCLA.
As the fortunes of both programs dipped in the 90's, the rivalry lost some luster and being on the west coast it didn't make the national spot light as much. The rivalry has also seen each program go on long winning streaks - UCLA in the 90's and then USC in the 2000's under Carroll.
I knew SC/UCLA was a bigger deal in the 70's and 80's, but I'm a child of the 80's so I don't really remember it. My thing is that UCLA wants to be a basketball school, as evident by their lack of financial committment to facilities and coaches salaries.
The problem is that UM-MSU was not much of a football rivalry from 1968-2007. It's only heated up after the Dantonio and RR years where Sparty won 4 straight.
For the rivalry to continue being relevant, State is going to have to keep winning some games. Easier said then done now that Michigan is on rise.
"Easier said then done now that Michigan is on rise."
IMO, the new conference realignment is just as significant as UM's rise, to the downward spiral that is Spartan Football.
So it’s not really a rivalry, just a blip; a brief anomaly, very transient and truthfully may never occur significantly again. Just go home relax and don’t worry about it. /s
My view is that ever since the Big Ten got into direct competition with ESPN (Fox owns 49% of the BTN), the Big Ten is mentioned as little as possible on all of the Disney media outlets.
The majority of Big Ten football games are still on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2. It would seem like Disney still has an incentive to keep interest in the teams high.
When I was a freshman at UofM, I had no idea that Sparty took football so seriously. It was just another game on the schedule to me - like Iowa or Minnesota.
I get it now, though, for two reasons:
1) All the MI families that are split between the two schools and the rivalry that causes
2) The RR years were so bad, and so bad against MSU specifically... that the win in 2012 definitely felt extra special.
This is because most experts in the nation don't view MSU as a real threat, like Dantoni does... its that simple.... this is a good thing.
The rivalry we have with MSU is indeed a rivalry, it just doesn't belong at the top of the national in-state rivalry list. When Alabama and Auburn play, or Florida and Florida State, the game draws a lot of attention nationally. When Michigan and MSU square off, it's pretty much those who are invested in the success of one of the teams.
I don't see much of a national following for those schools out there. Not sure either S Carolina or Clemson has much of a national following.
from everything I've ever heard about that rivalry it's pretty intense, although naming their yearly game "The Apple Cup" makes it sound like a spelling bee. I wouldn't put it in the top five, but I think it belongs in the top fifteen.
As for USC-UCLA, I've never gotten the impression that UCLA fans get particularly crazy about football. I would put UM-MSU ahead of that one.
This is an excellent point. I am sure when they read the article, they thought, "WTF?!?! Where is our rivalry with Michigan?"
They are so desperate for respect and attention that it's comical.
The M/MSU rivalry isn't that big of a deal. It only has been lately because they won four in a row (thanks to Rich Rod of course), but after we crush them in East Lansing this year, things will go back to normal. It's only a big deal to Sparty fans.
If you measure the rivalry by how intense the rivalry is in the state where the schools are, I think the U-M and Moo rivalry is as intense as any of them with possible exceptions of Alabama-Auburn, Florida-FSU, South Carolina-Clemson, Texas-Texas A&M and Marshall-WVU.
If you measure the rivalry by how intense the rivalry on a national scale it doesn't get that much attention because U-M has Ohio and Moo gets no respect nationally - it's been equated wtih Ball State. That's why we are not on the ESPN list.
I question the inclusion of USC-UCLA and Oregon-Oregon State. I don't think any west coast rivalries are intense enough to put on this list.
The list would also be different if it weren't limited to football.
Virginia, Vatech, Washington/Wazzu..Oregon/Oregon St, Cal Stanford, zona / asu and others.
Best instate though is Bama, Auburn for intensity... but overall I can't think of a great instate with the competitive balance of good great programs.
Jokes aside, I seriously think a lot of people underrate the Michigan - MSU rivalry. If you're using national relevance, I will agree, UM/MSU shouldn't be on the list, but it's not like a lot of these in-state rivalries have been that relevant. Sure OK-OSU and Or-ORS have been good the last couple of years, but were they really that interesting beforehand?
Along with that, how many of these rivalries are competitive? Aside from UF-FSU, how many of these are close every year and pretty closely balanced? USC-UCLA? UT-A&M? UA-AU? I just don't see it. The fact is that a lot of the critisms of UM-MSU completely apply to the vast majority of the other rivalries as well.
I'm all for not just looking at the last few years, but the rivalry has also been pretty competitive, featured close games, and some pretty good teams that were nationally relevant in the last few seasons. There's no doubt this hasn't been the case over the rivalry's history, but that should at least mean something. Also, the pure hatred of this rivalry is incredible. I think you can make a good case that these two schools hate each other as much as UM-OSU. Clearly, not as good of a rivalry, but the hatred is definitely there.
One final note. The one criticism that is 100% valid in my eyes is the fact that MSU is not Michigan's top rival. That's a pretty good reason to put some of the other ones above this one, despite the points I listed above.
UCLA is not UCS's top rivalry either, ND is.
Jokes aside, I seriously think a lot of people underrate the Michigan - MSU rivalry. If you're using national relevance, I will agree, UM/MSU shouldn't be on the list, but it's not like a lot of these in-state rivalries have been that relevant. Sure OK-OSU and Or-ORS have been good the last couple of years, but were they really that interesting beforehand?
Along with that, how many of these rivalries are competitive? Aside from UF-FSU, how many of these are close every year and pretty closely balanced? USC-UCLA? UT-A&M? UA-AU? I just don't see it. The fact is that a lot of the critisms of UM-MSU completely apply to the vast majority of the other rivalries as well.
I'm all for not just looking at the last few years, but the rivalry has also been pretty competitive, featured close games, and some pretty good teams that were nationally relevant in the last few seasons. There's no doubt this hasn't been the case over the rivalry's history, but that should at least mean something. Also, the pure hatred of this rivalry is incredible. I think you can make a good case that these two schools hate each other as much as UM-OSU. Clearly, not as good of a rivalry, but the hatred is definitely there.
One final note. The one criticism that is 100% valid in my eyes is the fact that MSU is not Michigan's top rival. That's a pretty good reason to put some of the other ones above this one, despite the points I listed above.
Alabama vs Auburn
Florida vs Florida State
USC vs UCLA
South Carolina vs Clemson
Oregon vs Oregon State
Florida State vs Miami (FL)
Michigan vs Michigan State
Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State
BYU vs Utah
Cal vs Stanford
Georgia vs Georgia Tech
Marshall vs W. Virginia
Washington vs Washington State
Colorado vs Colorado State
Arizona vs Arizona State
...in that order. Athlough, I'm sure I left some games off. I will say that I would like to see Pitt play Penn St. every year in the a big non-conference game. I also think that UCF/USF will become a good rivalry in the new AAC (War on I-4).
Like McDonald and Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Yes they both serve food, but one is good and one is full of people who have attended Michigan State.
I see plenty of State grads boxing my wife's filet mignon left-overs at RC.
Also, no IU and Purdue? WTF?