Michigan and Duke are basketball rivals?
Right, so I was bouncing around the interwebz a little while ago basking in the fact that Duke lost and that we are #1 for now, and then discovered this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke%E2%80%93Michigan_basketball_rivalry
Apparently the "rivalry" between Michigan and Duke is big enough to warrant a Wiki page. I was utterly unaware of this. I mean... what?
Discuss.
January 13th, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 9:08 AM ^
If your defintion of Rivalry is them beating us almost every time we've played since the 90's most of the time by big margins than yes we could be considered rivals :-)
January 13th, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 9:29 AM ^
I have a little different take on this. Most everyone here has a slightly different definition of the word..Rival.
Do I hate Duke BB? (and NC for that matter) Yes. Are we a rivalS in acedemics? Yes. Are we rivals in FB? no. Are we rivals in BB? No.
I define a rival as someone, some entity, some school that has an equal amount of hatred for each other. A rival is that the outcome of the game means something a little more than bragging rights. In my opinion, it has to go both ways.
I am sure that most Michigan BB fans hate Duke. But that does not make them our "rival". There is nothing to gain (save NCAA Tourney) on the outcome. Duke's rival is NC. NC's rival is Duke. There is no question about this.
Our rival is ohio, (in most sports). Their rival is us. We are NOT rivals with moo U. We are NOT rivals with ND. We are not rivals with EMU. As I have posted previously, there are 5 Big Ten FB teams that consider us their rival. However we only have one.
January 13th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
I still dislike Grant Hill. As far as Laetner, there was never any mystery about his d-baggery. But Grant Hill was placed on a pedestal and we were all expected to worship his bloodline, supposed intellect, work ethic and clean life. This continued well into his NBA career until his injuries and complete inability to help his many different teams advance into the post season. I may not hate Duke, but its really difficult for me to like them.
But I'm not sure any of that translates into a current rivalry. I live in the Triangle, have Duke friends, and can assure you that UM doesn't make their list. It's probably composed of UNC and...and that's it. I actually get the impression that they feel like they should win every game and if they don't it was because of bad luck (other team exceeds expectations or one of their own is injured). Think Notre Dame - but without the Catholic pretense.
January 13th, 2013 at 10:36 AM ^
I actually get the impression that they feel like they should win every game and if they don't it was because of bad luck (other team exceeds expectations
It's been my experience that if Duke or UNC loses a game in basketball, except to each other, that much credit is rarely given to the opponent. Though UNC is guiltier of this than Duke.
January 13th, 2013 at 9:48 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^
Actually, we stopped playing them when Amaker was here (2002-03 was the last time), supposedly because Coach K doesn't like playing his assistants. We briefly resumed the series when Beilein came here and then it was stopped again.
January 13th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^
We did. That was the last time we were the #1-ranked team. A few of the guys mouthed off about how they were going to destroy Duke in the game. We ended up losing by about 10.
January 13th, 2013 at 12:11 PM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
SI actually wrote an article on that game (not very flattering to us):
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004645/inde…
January 13th, 2013 at 11:16 AM ^
I don't think Wiki was wrong for listing this as a rivalry.
It should be noted that Wikipedia is a completely user-generated encyclopedia. They didn't write that article; individual contributors (most of whom are probably Michigan fans) did.
I was a fan during the Fab Five years and at that point it certainly felt like a rivalry. But that feeling only lasted a few years during the 1990s. During the Ellerbe years it certainly didn't feel like a big deal, and when the series was cancelled under Amaker most people hardly noticed. (You wrote above that we played them every year under Ellerbe/Amaker, but that's inaccurate. We did not play in between 2002 and 2007.)
For us to call it a "rivalry" now feels a lot like Illinois fans saying that about Michigan-Illinois. It clearly means much more to one school than the other. It had its moments, but rivalries are built on more than just a few memorable games. Or is Michigan-Colorado a rivalry in football?
January 13th, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^
We were (although to be honest, it was one-sided, mattering more to us than them, aside from perhaps when the Fab Five was here) . . . but we aren't anymore. The series needs to be restarted.
January 13th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
and there is bad blood. Even my eight-year-old hates Duke. Of course, that's not just because of me but because we live in Tallahassee, but still.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^
I think it takes more than just hatred (from one side) for there to be a rivalry. A lot of people here hate Alabama, USC, etc., but I don't think that means we have a rivalry with them.
Lots of fans hate Duke - they're successful, they're private, they have a reputation as being kind of preppy, etc. - but that doesn't mean Duke has 100 different rivalries. We've played some great games with them, but not enough to make it a meaningful year-in, year-out thing. Really, if someone has to ask "Is it a rivalry?" then no, it probably isn't.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^
think both are true. To some extent it is in our (Michigan's) minds, that is true--and a matter of resentment. Also may be truer for us old guys, who lived through the pain of the big beatings during the Fab Five era, and really absorbed the hate between the Fab Five and Hill. I was so happy when we beat them in 08.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^
I remember the Fab Five games. I despised Duke during that time. But it was just a couple of years. If we had stayed a national power all that and continued to play them annually, it might be a rivalry. But I don't know how you could say it is now.
Along the same lines, while Michigan-Indiana was a huge deal for awhile in the '80s and early '90s, I don't think we can really say that we currently have a rivalry with them, given how the last 15 years have gone down for the two schools. That may change, though.
January 13th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
people see it as I do--hence the wikipiece. Agree about Indiana. And would love it, like you, if these "rivalries" became more heated.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^
The Fab Five will be remembered long after the players for Duke from the 90's have been cast onto the ash pile of sports.
January 13th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
Ssssh. Cherokee Parks might write an OpEd to WSJ, or something. The Dukies are very sensitive on this issue.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^
I think we can all agree that when Duke and Michigan play, it's going to be more special than when Duke and Michigan State play or Michigan and Wake Forest play. There's history, there's quality and there's strong fan support. Of course, Michigan and Duke are not each other's biggest rivals, but it's definitely something that gets the fans pumped. That, to me, is a pretty good rivalry.
January 13th, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
It could be a rivalry if we scheduled it annually, but, IMO we aren't quite there. That differs from whoever created this wikipedia article, but, just my 2 cents.
January 13th, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^