(FINAL) Poll: Big Ten Rivalries

Submitted by MGoSoftball on

Illinois:  Us with NW second

Iowa: Minny with Wiskey second

Indiana: Purdue only

moo u:  Us only

Minny: Wisky with Iowa a distant second

Nebraska: Very strange answers.  Many said "None" however I got the feeling the old timers went for Oklahoma and the young guys said Iowa.  I know it was posted on this thread that Neb/iowa will never be a rivalry game.  Time does funny things to people.  So for the sake of arguement it was: Oklahoma then Iowa/None for second.

Northwestern: Some strange answers here as well.  Many of the old timers say us.  They spoke of acedemics as well as athletics.  The younger guys said us or Illinois.  Overall I call it a tie.

Notre Dame: Us and USC were tied.

Ohio: Us only

Penn State: Ohio first, Us second.

Purdue: Notre Dame only.  Maybe a little brother complex??

Wisconsin: Us with Minny a distant second.

So we have the most B1G teams that call us rivals.  Im not sure that is good or bad.

 

 

 

Last year there was some discussion regarding Illinois and how they said that we were their (Illinois) biggest rivals.  That was a surprise to some on this board, including me.

Earlier this year, my company hired a new VP.  On his first day, he was walking around the office, introducing  himself to the staff.  He came to my shrine (errr, I mean cubicle).  The first thing he said after we exchanged pleasantries was "Im a Wisconsin Badger.  We hate Michigan"  We laughed a little and he said that we are Wisconsin's major rival.  I was surprised again.

So that had me thinking of other Big Ten schools.  Who is each school's rival?  Then I formulated a plan to find out the answer.  I put the question below on a blog of every Big Ten member this spring/summer.  Here is the question:

"I am a Graduate Engineering student of a Big Ten School.  I am asking blog members of each Big Ten school who their #1 rival is.  Please answer only if you have a relationship with your school (student, alumni, season ticket holder, family member is a student, employee, staff, contractor etc).  Please do not answer if you are a casual fan of the school."

As you can see, I did not include the criteria of "rival".  It could be football, basketball, softball, academics or other.  I left it open to interpretation.  I also posted on an ND board as well.  I did this before Rutgers and Maryland joined but I will hit them up as well.

So just for fun can anyone guess what the answers are? I will post the answers in an Edit of the OP in a few days.

 

ChopBlock

December 20th, 2012 at 2:01 PM ^

Illinois: Michigan

Ohio: Michigan

MSU: Michigan

Michigan: Ohio

Penn State: Ohio

Indiana: Purdue

Purdue: Notre Dame

Northwestern: Illinois

Wisconsin: Minnesota

Minnesota: Wisconsin

Iowa: Wisconsin

Nebraska: Oklahoma

Notre Dame: USC

Rutgers and Maryland: "Who cares? Who gives a damn?"

FrankMurphy

December 20th, 2012 at 2:10 PM ^

The Nebraska/Oklahoma rivalry was kneecapped when they stopped playing each other every year. Penn State and Nebraska will become each other's biggest rival when Penn State gets back on its feet. 

Also, I think most Wisconsin fans consider Michigan or Ohio to be their biggest rival since Minnesota hasn't been on Wisconsin's level in a very long time. 

Yeoman

December 20th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^

1. Wisconsin and Minnesota really hate each other. It hasn't played out so much in football lately because it's been so unbalanced the last few decades (Minnesota ahistorically bad, Wisconsin ahistorically good), but the rivalry goes way beyond that, and beyond the two schools to the states themselves.

2. Assuming Iowa stays competent in football (or maybe if Nebraska becomes competent in basketball) I'd expect that to eventually be the biggest in-conference rivalry for both schools. Sharing a common border with a decent-sized city sitting on that border means a lot of workplace and social mingling of the two fanbases.

MGoSoftball

December 20th, 2012 at 11:30 PM ^

certainly agree with you on the Neb/Iowa rivalry.  Although many Neb fans would rather stay "neutral".  There are just too many reasons not to be rivals.  Especially when the B1G is pushing it as they will play every year the day after Thanksgiving to national TV.

I think as time goes on, in ten years this will be a big game for both.

jmblue

December 20th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^

Nebraska's biggest rival will most likely be someone in their own division, which probably means Michigan.  When they play us, division supremacy will probably be on the line.  When they play PSU, each team will be competing separately, so the result will only incidentally affect the standings.  (Which also is a reason to want Michigan and OSU together in one division.)

FrankMurphy

December 21st, 2012 at 2:09 AM ^

The problem with that is that the rivalry would lack mutuality. Even if Nebraska considers Michigan its biggest rival, Michigan will never consider Nebraska its biggest rival. That's okay for lesser schools like llinois or Little Brother, but an elite program like Nebraska that sees itself as on par with Michigan needs a rivalry in which the hatred is truly mutual. Penn State fills that role quite nicely, because they're a fellow elite program that has lacked a true rival since they joined the conference.

ChicagoB1GRed

December 21st, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^

we (Nebraska) don't have any particular history with them, only played them 15 times, don't border them, and aren't even divisional rivals.

Much more likely we'd form a rivalry within a team we play every year within in the division to win the Legends or whatever it ends up being. That's what formed the basis for the NU-OU rivalry.

 

BlueFab5

December 20th, 2012 at 3:37 PM ^

I wouldn't necessarily call it a rivalry, but until the RR era Michigan was the team PSU hated the most. 

I'm from Philadelphia and have been to a few Michigan v PSU games at Happy Valley.  I can tell you from personal experience of being at the games, and being friends with a lot of PSU fans and alumnus, that they hated us with a passion.

However, I think ohio has taken over that mantel more recently.

a2_electricboogaloo

December 20th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^

?̧̛͒͐̀̊ͭ̄͒ͦ́̔̑̕҉͔̩̤̩͇?͉̫̬̪͉̯̤̺͕̭̤̙͍͇͚̦͉̄ͧ̏ͫͧͣͬ̑͑́̚̕͢͜͝?́̏̌̂̈́̿ͣ̊́҉̤̤̙̯̺̣̥͘͜͢?̵̸̶̨̗̳̪͇̩̟̏ͧͨ̆͌͛̍͋̉ͥ̎̌ͅͅ?̴̧̡͔̮̰̙͕͉̣ͨͬ̓͋͒ͧ̀͛̑̔̀͡?̢̼͙̼̯̻̠̼͕̘̜̝̬̹͚̳̼̦̜̉̃̈̓̊̎̌ͯ̄̀̂͡͠?̷̭̞̫̣̯̘̥̳̮͕̄͛̋̂̾̓̓ͫ͐͠ͅ?̡̪̭̖̙̼̥͇͍͙̲̦̥͑̈ͫ̈̾ͩ͂̅̚͟͞?̴̷͚͙̬̗̯̦͖̮̮̎̔͂̊͛ͫ̌̇̑̕ͅ?̢͙̼̦͖̦͙̟̲͎͒ͦ̍͋̿̀ͥͣ̂̒͐̚͡͝?̡̝͓̺͕̼̯̗̰͈̹ͣͮ̅̉̐̆ͤ͊͗͊́͘͜͜ͅ?̰͙͙̳͍͚͈̠͎͓͇͇̲̤̺̜͎̣ͤ͗̀ͥͭ͘͟?̧̛ͥ̉̔ͦ̎ͬ͘͏̧̞̯͎̳̤̘͚̰̣̣̳̪̯͓?̷̿ͯͪͧ̇͑́̊ͭͭ̀̅̈́ͩ͆҉҉̝̯̼̠̫̹̱̳̜̮̠̦̗͉̗̰̥?̴̶̡̱̱̲̞͖ͨ̽̄̌ͣ͐ͥ͗ͤ̈͋ͧͥ̐͛͒̏̀̀?̷͐͒̌ͪ̈́̍̀͘͟͏̣̩̣̤?͙̥̲̘̪̟̣̫̩͎̺͙̞̮͔͍̩̅̏ͮ̄̿̿̋̿͊̈ͪ͜͢ͅ?̢͍̠͔̟͆͛͛ͮ̓̏̾̀̚

jabberwock

December 20th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^

you had asked each school about its #1, # 2 or (in Michigan's case) it's # 3 rival.

Of course 99% of OSU will say "Michigan" but I'm actually interested in eveyones 2nd or 3rd as well.

I'm sure the poll data may reveal some of that info anyway so please be sure to include that in your results, thanks.

Dawggoblue

December 20th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^

I live in Wisconsin and Badger fans make it a point to attack me for cheering for Michigan.  It always nice to explain to them that most Michigan fans don't consider them a rival, in fact we really don't even consider them.

The most comon response is that Wisconsin has been more relevant in Hockey, Basketball and Football since the turn of the century.  They insist Michigan is just an average athletic program these days.

If you ever get bored or want a good laugh at people who can't accept reality, check out. http://www.wissports.net/Playground/default.aspx?g=topics&f=69  It's pretty easy to tell who I am.

LSAClassOf2000

December 20th, 2012 at 3:10 PM ^

I have heard Rutgers people that I know claim Navy as a rival in football despite the fact that they've met only a shade over twenty times in the last 120 years. Odd. Historically, they had one with Princeton in virtually every sport, I believe, although I know the two haven't played against each other in football since the early 80s at least. The women's basketball matches between UConn and Rutgers have been more rivalry-like lately too.

So, you're right - the Knicks.

Perkis-Size Me

December 20th, 2012 at 2:58 PM ^

I think everyone in the Big Ten considers Michigan and/or OSU to be its biggest rival. Both are the flagship schools of the conference, the ones that traditionally set the standard for everyone else. Aside from UM-OSU and UM-MSU, I don't think there are many big-time, nationally known rivalries in the Big Ten. A Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry is a rivalry in name only. Wisconsin-Penn State is a maybe, but I think that's really more recognized by the Big Ten.



Both UM and OSU are like the Yankees of the Big Ten. Everyone considers them their rival and most hated enemy, while to us, most of the other schools don't even show up on our radar. They're just another game.

blacknblue

December 20th, 2012 at 2:59 PM ^

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Ohio, MSU, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois all said Michigan. Michigan's is Ohio and Penn State will probably say the same, Nortwestern fans probably said Illinois, Notre Dame fans will say something stupid, Nebraska fans probably don't know who their rivals are anymore, and Purdue and Indiana can have each other, and I have absolutely no idea about Maryland and Rutgers.

WolverineHistorian

December 20th, 2012 at 3:30 PM ^

Don't bother trying to figure out a rival for Nebraska.  For years, their fans said endlessly that they have no rival and they like it.  It's part of the Nebraska football tradition to not have a rival.  I think it's lame as hell but they like it, so whatever.  I don't see that changing now that they have changed conferences. 

Wisconsin fans, much like Illinois fans before them considering us a rival is kind of flattering but in reality, it's lame.  To have a rival, the other team has to hate you and want to beat you as badly as you want to beat them.  So, you can tell your VP that Wisconsin being a dumpster fire for 100 years, Barry Alvarez's Rose Bowl teams losing to us and you finally being able to beat us because of RichRod and an injured Henne and Hart does not a rivalry make. 

 

a2husker

December 20th, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^

You're correct in that I don't think we really have a current main rival, but I wouldn't say that we've cultivated that attitude - at least not on purpose.

After the Oklahoma game got ripped away from us with the start of the Big 12, we didn't really have a clear #2 in waiting. Colorado had long been trying to make us their rival, but that was really more annoying than anything (it was kind of a Little Brother situation, even though we didn't have that terminology handy back then). We didn't have a consistent series of hard-fought, annoyingly won (or lost) games with any of the teams in the North, due to one or the other of us being bad for a stretch at a time. If you had asked me our last year in the B12, I probably would have said Texas, with full knowledge that we're not even in Texas' top 3. Now that we're gone, I don't really miss *any* of the series. Some of that's due to new surroundings being inherently interesting, but some of it's due to the fact that we weren't seriously emotionally attached to anyone that we left behind.

That's the thing - rivalries pop up because of a series of games that manage to annoy both fan bases, and they stick around because the games remain competitive more often than not. Nebraska hasn't had a yearly series with another team like that for a looooong time, and now with the conference switch, we find ourselves rivalless. I'll tell you though, we've seeded this place over the last couple of years with annoyingly decided games, so there's a rivalry that's bound to emerge from somewhere. (Sorry B1G, but it probably won't be Iowa.)

 

Tuebor

December 20th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^

Wisconsin considering us a rivalry is strange.  I was rocking my UM windbreaker at Panera at 12 and Halsted this morning and had a guy say "Hey Michigan Man" to me.  He then proceeded to identify himself as a Badger and introduced his associate as a Spartan as if the two carried the same weight.   I can't wait until we get back to the top and start putting beat downs on the lesser B1G teams again. 

Optimism Attache

December 20th, 2012 at 6:50 PM ^

This is a great idea. Thanks for doing it.

A similar thing happened to me when I went on a business trip to Madison when I was 25. I had a big M sticker on my laptop and during our 5 meetings that trip I received 3 comments from our hosts. They ranged from "ooh, Michigan is the worst" to "I really hope that stands for Marquette." They were all good natured, but it was clear the UW fans thought they had a serious rivalry with Michigan.

Illinois: Michigan

Ohio: Michigan

MSU: Michigan

Michigan: Ohio

Penn State: Pitt

Indiana: Purdue

Purdue: Indiana

Northwestern: Illinois

Wisconsin: Iowa

Minnesota: Wisconsin

Iowa: Iowa State

Nebraska: Oklahoma

Notre Dame: USC

Maryland: Duke

Rutgers: Connecticut

MGoSoftball

December 20th, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^

but while a little old, there are 2 differences with my poll.  One is that I tried to limit respondants to only "invested" fans.  Casual fans were asked not to vote and two the answers were not limited to only conference foes.

The answers from my non-scientific poll are very similar to these but there are some suprises.

Seth

December 20th, 2012 at 8:03 PM ^

Several Spartans have made the claim to me at different points that Michigan State is really Michigan's biggest rival. One time my brother made this statement while visiting Ann Arbor and I dragged him around to every table/group at the Brown Jug to have everybody tell him "nuh uh."

Fans just tend to get into their own discussion loops. I mean if you didn't really watch football after the Michigan-Michigan State game every year what would you know about the relative importance of events in november?

MGoSoftball

December 20th, 2012 at 10:55 PM ^

wishful thinking on their part.  I had the same discussion with a sparty guy I know.  I explained that moo U does not compete with us on really any level.  He said that we go after the same recruits.  I said Yes but they all come to Michigan.  Only one recruit in 3 years that was offered by both school went to moo u. 

I then asked the riddle, what do every M and moo U student have in common? They all applied to Michigan.  He was so angry that he literally shit himself on my couch.  Talk about rude.

sparty has so much hate and contempt for us that it affects their health.  They really should go the the Big East or MAC or to hell for all I care.  They would live longer than to languish in our success.  They have to get sick about hearing about us.  Now that we are back in basketball: sparty suicide will rise.