What makes a rivalry:
1. A relatively long history
2. At least some sense of balance between the two teams
3. Strong feelings between the two teams
List of Rivalries in College Football
Being a fan of NIU, I think it sucks having no true rivals. We need to piss off Toledo a little bit more by beating them the next few years and that may change things. Because from the Northern Illinois side, there is severe hatred. Of course Ball State is annoying too.
Some other rivalries may be brewing. The MAC is an up and coming conference. Buffalo-Temple for the toilet seat trophy?
This poll is mostly for football, but talk of any other sports and rivalries is welcome as well.
I think Akron vs. Kent is right up there as far as basketball goes. Both teams are playing at about the same level, and it's a pretty electric environment when the two teams go head to head. It was a shame that the MAC Championship didn't feature both of the these teams, because I'm pretty sure they would have broken the attendance record.
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I voted for WMU-CMU. I remember the days when this game rivaled the Michigan-MSU game for top rivalry in the state as far as pure venom was considered.
On the way to work today I noticed a vehicle with both a Miami and an Ohio sticker, one on each side window. It was very odd for a couple reasons. One, because they are rivals. Two, because it was downtown Chicago. Must of been a parent.
Being an NIU alum it sucks having no rival. I would like to start up a rivalry game with Ball State. I have given up on any type of a rival game with the Illness or NU, either of them would be great but that would mean they would have to play us and I don't think either of them want that. My only hope is that NU gets a lot of heat from the Big Ten about their lack of attendance so they have to schedule us just so they can improve their numbers.
I said "other" because it hasn't happened yet but is in the early planning stages. An NIU-BSU trophy game. They trophy being a glass ball jar and barbed wire(or possibly corn if they think the barbed wire is too dangerous).
Before UT's win at BG this past year, the UT/BG rivalry was tied over the last 20 years. That is some balance.
This game is huge. I remember being a kid in the 80's when UT still used one of the tower's as their locker room......the one that is used by the visiting team now. Simrell used to get that team so pumped up for the game that you could hear them yelling and banging the lockers from all the way out at the 50 yard line in the stands. Unfortunately, there used to be fights in the stands when we played. Back then alcohol was sold at the stadium and I am pretty sure that attributed to the fighting.
The rivalry was very fierce, and it still is. It's not called the Battle of I-75 for nothing. We even have a trophy called the "Peace Pipe" that is awarded to the winner each year.
ESPN believes it is a pretty darn good rivalry too, as they have aired every football game in the series since 2000. I don't believe any other series in the MAC has been aired 6 times in a row and counting as the 7th in a row is already scheduled for ESPN2 this fall.
It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
You can't just "make" a rivalry for the sake of making a rivalry. Rivalries are something that form naturally. It could come about based on a number of factors including location, consistent competition for championships, or certain events (ex. The Bubba saga, Hipshers make obscene gestures to ozone, etc.).
epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
You can't just "make" a rivalry for the sake of making a rivalry. Rivalries are something that form naturally. It could come about based on a number of factors including location, consistent competition for championships, or certain events (ex. The Bubba saga, Hipshers make obscene gestures to ozone, etc.). Basically, you need to have a real reason to hate the other school.
epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
The UT/BG rivalry dates back to 1919. UT started playing football in 1917 and BG in 1919. We played in 1919, UT won, and the rivalry started. This of course was way before the MAC, but it goes to show you how long this rivalry has been around.
akronzip Wrote:epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
You can't just "make" a rivalry for the sake of making a rivalry. Rivalries are something that form naturally. It could come about based on a number of factors including location, consistent competition for championships, or certain events (ex. The Bubba saga, Hipshers make obscene gestures to ozone, etc.).
Normally that would be the case but what can we do? Many BSU fans hate us(from what I have read) but we aren't at that point of hating them yet. We are just a little annoyed with them so if you put in a trophy, good things can happen down the road but it will take some time for it to really get going.
rocketfootball Wrote:epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
The UT/BG rivalry dates back to 1919. UT started playing football in 1917 and BG in 1919. We played in 1919, UT won, and the rivalry started. This of course was way before the MAC, but it goes to show you how long this rivalry has been around.
In a geography class I took in college, we were told that BG was started by a group of Toledo businessmen who felt that UT was "too liberal". If that is in fact the case, it's was a rivalry before sports ever entered the picture. And from the comments from some former players on our boards, it's a very real rivalry. There have been accusations of cheating and all manner of chicanery over the years, even leading to a suspension of play between the schools at one point. Add the fact that it's now played as the last game of the regular season every year, and you've got all the ingredients.
The thing is, last year's game against Ball State would have been huge had their players not been suspended before the NIU game. Ball State was a good team, but they came in to Dekalb at only 1-6. Just being on campus, the common perception was that Ball State is so inferior to NIU that there is no way possible that they should have won that game. But then the Huskies went on to play unmotivated and lost. In 2004, the game went to OT in Muncie, but I don't even think that was televised.
I don't know about a rivalry just yet, some more bad blood still has to be shed somehow between the schools. Just don't upset us, we'll break your hearts if you bring a decent team to field this year.
Our overall record is just 13-18-2 against them and we have some catching up to do after their dominance in the 70's and 80's.
rabidawg900 Wrote:The thing is, last year's game against Ball State would have been huge had their players not been suspended. Ball State was a good team, but they came in to Dekalb at only 1-6.
Their suspensions were early in the year. I don't remember anyone being suspended for the NIU game.
rocketfootball Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:The thing is, last year's game against Ball State would have been huge had their players not been suspended. Ball State was a good team, but they came in to Dekalb at only 1-6.
Their suspensions were early in the year. I don't remember anyone being suspended for the NIU game.
What I was trying to say was that the players came back from the suspensions in time the week before the NIU game against Ohio. The suspensions lasted the first 6 games. Most of the guys were back by the 5th game against Toledo. Losing all those games early just made Ball State look a lot worse than they were. Beginning with NIU, they managed to win 3 of their last 4 games. In their last game, they lost to WMU in OT.
rabidawg900 Wrote:rocketfootball Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:The thing is, last year's game against Ball State would have been huge had their players not been suspended. Ball State was a good team, but they came in to Dekalb at only 1-6.
Their suspensions were early in the year. I don't remember anyone being suspended for the NIU game.
What I was trying to say was that the players came back from the suspensions in time the week before the NIU game against Ohio. The suspensions lasted the first 6 games. Most of the guys were back by the 5th game against Toledo. Losing all those games early just made Ball State look a lot worse than they were. Beginning with NIU, they managed to win 3 of their last 4 games. In their last game, they lost to WMU in OT.
I definitely think Ball State was better than their record last year because of the suspensions early on. I remember before the UT/BSU game last year the Ball State fans were saying that all of the suspensions were going to be finished the week before Toledo so that everyone would be back for the Toledo game. So I think they were suspension free for their last 6 games.
This fall I expect Ball State to be even better, but they are going to have a hard time at Toledo as they never play very well in Toledo just like UT never plays well in Muncie. Playing at Toledo the week after playing at Michigan is not going to help them either. Playing at CMU and at Miami isn't going to be easy either, and NIU even in Muncie is going to be awfully tough. They may only go 4-4 in MAC play despite being a better team than that.
epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
You can always call Western Illinois your rival. :)
ChicagoRocket Wrote:epasnoopy Wrote:It's easy for all those Ohio MAC schools to have rivalries. They're in such close proximity of each other. Same with the Michigan MAC schools. NIU, Ball State, and Buffalo end up being the odd one's out since there is only one MAC school in each of the states they reside. In Illinois there are only 3 Division 1-A programs in our state and two are in the Big Ten. Which got me thinking...do Illinois and Northwestern have a strong rivalry? I don't think they do since one sucks in football and the other (NU) always falls in the middle of the Big Ten. We need a rivalry with Ball State. They are in much of the same pridicament we are in. I think it would be a great rivalry! I've always liked the state of Indiana, and i don't mind traveling there.
You can always call Western Illinois your rival. :)
How can they be a rival? Don't we have to win a few games before it can be considered a rivalry? ;-)
Ohio and Miami are two of the oldest schools in the Northwest territory. They were both founded in the early 1800's and have played in the same conference (Buckeye athletic and the MAC) for many years. The fact that Ohio State was created because these two proud schools couldn't agree to share a Columbus branch campus adds to the folklore. This rivalry is very intense in basketball as Ohio is the only MAC school with a winning record over Miami all-time. The two teams rank #1 and #3 in all-time MAC basketball titles, They have sent more players to the NBA than other MAC teams.
In football, the series has tilted in Miami's favor over the last 30 years. During the 50's and 60's Ohio had the upper hand in the rivalry. Bo Schembechler was just 3-3 vs Ohio as Miami head coach. Over 80 meetings in football.
In basketball Miami and Ohio are always among the biggest MAC crowds every year. You throw out the records and seeds when these to meet. Its seems that every year Ohio and Miami meet in the MAC tournament. Ohio has knocked out higher seeded Miami teams out three of last 4 years.
O'Shea is 3-0 vs Miami in Cleveland.