Tigeer Wrote:cuseroc Wrote:CardinalJim Wrote:A Louisville / Memphis match-up is NEVER lame. Pitino and Cal could agree to meet on the moon and the fans would pack the place. MSG is one of the few arenas outside of Louisville or Memphis that is good enough to host such a clash.
Outside of Cincinnati fans no one else in the Big East understands the Louisville / Memphis rivalry. There is nothing in the Big East that can touch it.CJ
You must have forgotten about the Georgetown/Syracuse rivalry, and the Georgetown/Nova rivalry, and the Syracuse/Uconn rivalry.
In my eyes, the Louisville/Kentucky rivalry is bigger than Louisville/Memphis rivalry. I would think that nationally, it is seen as a bigger rivalry as well.
I normally respect your comments cuseroc but you do not have the right perspective to speak about Memphis/UoL thing. There is a long history between the two schools in terms of hoops; much longer than even Cuse/UConn, Georgetown/Cuse and Georgetown/Nova.
Memphis fans may see things differently than Louisville, but I would guess most would not.
The ACC/Big East re-alignment damaged a rivalry trifecta; Memphis being damaged by the realignment more so than any other school probably, sans the Cal factor. I would say a lot of folks in the UC and UoL camps would like to see Memphis back in the fold.
I believe that I do have the right perspective regarding the Memphis Louisville rivalry. Do I really have to know the intimate details of the rivalry to to know if other rivalries in the BE can matchup? Maybe Louisville fans would get more excited about the UL/Memphis game than any other game, but will BE fans be more excited about that game than some of the other BE rivalries? Thats the perspective that I am speaking from. There are rivalries in the BE that will generate as much or more national interest as that game. I just dont believe that it is correct to make a blanket statement to say that "There is nothing in the BE that can touch the Memphis/Louisville rivalry", when clearly there is. My views are not meant to disrespect Memphis nor Louisville. But one should not dismiss what other BE teams have done.
To Louisville and Memphis fans, there may not be any rivalry in the BE that comes close to that one, but to Cuse fans and Georgetown fans there is no rivalry that comes close to that one in the BE. Each fan base gets excited about a certain team for various reasons, be it history, sharing the same state or city, or just bad blood between the 2 fan bases. I am more than a casual fan, and I did not know that the Louisville/Memphis rivalry was as intense as you guys are saying that it is until about the time that the new schools were invited to the BE. Up until now, I always thought that Louisville fans got excited most about playing Kentucky, and I still think they do. Most casual fans would think the same.
As for the Syracuse/Georgetown rivalry, it started in the late 70s when JT2 and his mighty Georgetown team came into SU's old arena, Manley Field House and beatup on my Orange in the very last game ever played at Manley Field House. And JT2 went to the mike and said something to this affect, "Manley FieldHouse is officially closed". From that point on, the 2 fanbases hated each other. Thruout the years those games were always played to a national tv audiance, and the atmosphere is fantastic. The games are always close, and it doesnt matter which team is better on paper or having the better season, as either team can always beat the other.
And it was THE game to watch in the 70's and 80's and part of the 90's. That rivalry was every bit as intense as UNC/Duke is today, but unfortunately Georgetown went on a decade or more hiatus that caused the rivalry to die a little. But it will pickup some more steam this year. And it is still, to most BE fans the best rivalry in the BE in bb, and every bit as intense as a UL/Memphis rivalry. Nationaly, I would think that most fans would see it that way.
BTW; SU and Georgetown have been playing each other long before the BE was formed and they are both top 10 teams all time.