Rank Our Rivalries

[lurkerhoya]

So as not to overwhelm the UConn Pre-game thread, I think this is a pretty interesting question to discuss. Everyone agrees on #1, but after that it gets a little fuzzy depending on who you are.

#1- SUcks

#2- NOva- As much as I hate to admit this one, it's become my favorite non-SUcks rivalry. For one, I personally know Nova fans, so the crossover always makes this interesting. Second, I loathe their fans nearly as much as SUcks. Just a disgusting crowd routinely whether at Verizon or on the road. Lastly, there's some history here, and although for a while it used to be a rivalry they simply concocted based on one cocaine-fueled upset, it's developed nicely the last few years with some big games, unforgettable moments and generally a battle of top-tier BE teams.

#3- UCONvictN- Great battles in the 90s, loathesome coach, loathesome program, and has some great moments. Two fanbases that tend to think low of each other.

#4- St. John's- Sure, they've been down lately, but this one I think is still important to us. It's just got so much history, the fact that NY is basically our second alumni home, and almost always results in a good game regardless of either team's place in the standings. Personally, they seem to always be a thorn in our side in recent years ad we're really one super BET matchup away from this being a truly live rivalry again.

#5- WVU- So many alums we all know that the crossover has made this game bigger than it ought to be since it's usually a 50-50 crowd at Verizon. Elitist overtones all over this one make the crowd rivalry probably a bit more testy than the actual on-court one.

#6-Notre Dame- Again, this one has major crossover among fanbases and their fans turn out to make the home games a pretty big event. Great moments and always seem to play some role in a disappointing season.

#7- Pitt- Didn't really think they'd be this low when I started this, but really I think we all have a lot of respect for this program, look forward to measuring ourselves against another of the BE's top programs, and seeing usually a great BE game. The rivalry is really borne out of mutual respect, i think, and that we each seem to do a good job of sticking it to the other on the court when it matters.

#8- Marquette- Simply because the games have been of such high quality since they joined.

#9- Providence- Historical

#10/#11- Rutgers & Seton Hall- They suck, but for some reason these games always matter. And, I think we like to believe we own NJ and they like to see to it that we don't.

#12- Louisville- Other than a dislike of Pitino, this one has never really taken of save the 2008 game.

#13- Cincinnati- Gets the nod only because they are typically better, making the game more meaningful.

#14- USF- Irrelevant, but there is the Dominique Jones thing.

#15- Depaul- Because once you're making a full on list, someone has to be last.


Thoughts? I imagine the top 4-5 are flexible depending on your POV.

[jerseyhoya34]

I'd bump Rutgers up because of Taub. On second thought, they're still irrelevant.

[superan]

Syracuse isn't so much our most hated rival as it is genuinely evil.

You wouldn't say Good vs. Evil is a rivalry. It's more like ultimate decider for the moral arch of the universe. Whenever Syracuse wins, a human soul is sacrificed from the coming battle with the four horsemen and making it that much tougher for Good to prevail.

[CAHoya07]

Feb 14, 2011 23:00:42 GMT -5 superan said:

Whenever Syracuse wins, a human soul is sacrificed from the coming battle with the four horsemen and making it that much tougher for Good to prevail.

This.

For me, it's Syracuse and everyone else. Sure, there are times when Villanova's win over us in '85 annoys me, or Notre Dame's smugness (and ignorance of basketball), or WVU's obnoxiousness. I could say similar things for Pitt and UConn. But there is no team that I hate more than Syracuse. No team.

The rest is just background noise.

[grokamok]

Musings:

Top Tier
St. John's (biggest, and not just because we've played against them more than anyone else)
Syracuse (most hated, and I understand why others place them first)

Second Tier
Villanova
UConn (barely, since much of the time we were great, they were not & vice-versa)

Third Tier
Pitt (long history, but not much of a rivalry in the BE until recently, with one or two years in the late 80s excepted)
WVU (history with some important games well before the BE)
Notre Dame (because of the rivalry associated with being the two top Catholic schools in the US)

In-conference with Prior Historical Importance
Seton Hall

Historically Important/Dormant (or relatively so) Non-conference In-area
GW
UMD
Navy (owns the greatest win differential of any team we've played)

Historically Important/Dormant (or relatively so) Non-conference Out-of-area
Fordham
BC

Other non-conference with interesting overtones
Temple
There are others of interest, but it would really water things down, and this may already be a number of steps too far.

[gutuna]

I've pasted part of this from the regular game thread because it fits here. For rivalries, my top three are

1. Syracuse - duh!
2. Villanova - like Georgetown lite in so many ways
3. Pitt - respect the hell out of them with many strong games over the past years

Beyond that, I put UConn in a special category. I loathe Calhoun. Jim Calhoun is bad for the game of college basketball. If he were punished (we can all dream) and forced out and UConn became irrelevant as a college basketball program as a result it would be good for Georgetown, good for the Big East, and good for the sport as a whole and well worth the cost.

His past successes and his continued presence on the sideline make a mockery of the college game. I don't want a rivalry or to beat them, I want them to disappear.

[sleepy]

Feb 15, 2011 0:36:36 GMT -5 gutuna said:

Beyond that, I put UConn in a special category. I loathe Calhoun. Jim Calhoun is bad for the game of college basketball. If he were punished (we can all dream) and forced out and UConn became irrelevant as a college basketball program as a result it would be good for Georgetown, good for the Big East, and good for the sport as a whole and well worth the cost.

His past successes and his continued presence on the sideline make a mockery of the college game. I don't want a rivalry or to beat them, I want them to disappear.

Perfectly put.

[lichoya68]

cuse duke uconn

[FrazierFanatic]

1. SUcks
2. Syrapuke
3. Magoo
4. Syracuse inbred fans
5. 'Nova
6. UConn
7. Syracuse

[Boz]

The only reason for not putting Syracuse at #1 is that the mere sight of the word "Syracuse" with a #1 next to it -- for anything -- makes me physically ill.

I don't think UConn is our second biggest rival -- that has to go to St. Johns or Nova, IMO (in that order) -- but I sure do hate UConn second most. No question about that.

Outside of that, I tend to hate whoever we are playing next. I wish evil things to happen to them.


Yeah.....I hate a lot.


On the other hand, I don't really hold a grudge against a lot of those opponents (not counting Syracuse and UConn, of course). The heat of the moment is one thing, but if we lose to a good team, it will bother me for a while, but in most cases, I can tip my hat and say, "well done."

Can't ever do that with the two most hated.

(It's pretty difficult to do that with WVU too).


Also, note to ESPN: Marquette? Not really a rival. Other than that we play in the same conference, of course.

[hoyasexy]

Feb 15, 2011 10:28:48 GMT -5 Boz said:

Also, note to ESPN: Marquette? Not really a rival. Other than that we play in the same conference, of course.

Right. At the game on Sunday, my son asked me what the team name was for Marquette. My answer was, "Golden Warriors, or something like that." A team can't be a rival if they never really enter your thoughts.

[hoyabinx]

Ex'Cuse

Very Large Gap

NovaSt.John'sUConnND

PittWVU

[GUHoya07]

1. syracuse
2-15. Other teams that are not syracuse

Really lic, duke? A team we've played 14 times total in our basketball history. I've enjoyed playing them, but there's nothing about it that would make me think it's even remotely close to a rivalry. Every other pathetic team in the ACC tries to call duke a rival, let's not fall into that group.

[Boz]

Feb 15, 2011 10:40:01 GMT -5 hoyasexy said:

Feb 15, 2011 10:28:48 GMT -5 Boz said:

Also, note to ESPN: Marquette? Not really a rival. Other than that we play in the same conference, of course.

Right. At the game on Sunday, my son asked me what the team name was for Marquette. My answer was, "Golden Warriors, or something like that." A team can't be a rival if they never really enter your thoughts.

Maybe if Tom Crean had stayed. That guy crawled. Eegghh!

But Buzz is just Buzz, you know? Even with him practically spending more time in the paint than Rick Jackson, you just want to pinch his cheeks, hose him down, and buy him a funnel cake.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Feb 15, 2011 0:31:55 GMT -5 grokamok said:

Musings:

Top Tier
St. John's (biggest, and not just because we've played against them more than anyone else)
Syracuse (most hated, and I understand why others place them first)

Second Tier
Villanova
UConn (barely, since much of the time we were great, they were not & vice-versa)

Third Tier
Pitt (long history, but not much of a rivalry in the BE until recently, with one or two years in the late 80s excepted)
WVU (history with some important games well before the BE)
Notre Dame (because of the rivalry associated with being the two top Catholic schools in the US)

In-conference with Prior Historical Importance
Seton Hall

Historically Important/Dormant (or relatively so) Non-conference In-area
GW
UMD
Navy (owns the greatest win differential of any team we've played)

Historically Important/Dormant (or relatively so) Non-conference Out-of-area
Fordham
BC

Other non-conference with interesting overtones
Temple
There are others of interest, but it would really water things down, and this may already be a number of steps too far.

This probably falls in your "watered down" or maybe "in-area non-con" lists, but I'd say ODU could be considered a new / emerging rival (esp. if we continue the series): 4 games in the past 5 seasons, 2-2 record, road team has won all 4 times.

Of course, the same could be said of Duke, Memphis, or another team with whom we have history and a recent series.

[GUMBA]

1. The Orange Eskimos from the frozen tundra of Upstate New York - Boz I didn't put the word and number together.
2. The Terps from College Park where the couches burn less frequently these days. Yeah, yeah, we never play them but that doesn't mean in this forum or lots of others they aren't considered our big cross town rival in recruiting, press coverage, Feinstein's little mind, etc.
3. NOVA, and I don't mean the PBS series or a 1970s Chevrolet. These games are usually close and chippy. Plus the blow infused 1985 stills sticks in our craws because it was nothing like the real thing.
4. Puke (of late) because Gerald Riley told them they were Edited down in their house and when Brandon Bowman (hugging the ball laying on our home court) and his band of merry Hoyas beat them in 2006 it was the best moment or perhaps second best moment of my 20+ years of Hoya fandom. Also nice to beat them in front of the POTUS.
5. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels - This one is out of respect. They are hard to hate like Devils with the Blue dress. Freddy Brown's errant pass still breaks my heart even if he was redeemed the following year. But my all time best moment as a fan was beating them in the Elite Eight up in Jersey. I only wish we played them more.
6. The PITTs - Because we lost Sam Young to them as a recruit and then they used him to beat us and because Blair kept smiling like the Cheshire Cat when he was killing us at home and because Dixon always takes an opportunity to run our teams down as soft, the list goes on and on.
7. UConnvicts - Because their fans are the worst in the Big East with the possible exception of West Virginia. But I have a morsel of respect for Calhoun because he give praise to both JT Jr. and JTIII in their coaching abilities saying he modeled his earlier teams on the defense of JT Jr.'s teams
8. St. Johnny Come Latelies - What used to be a huge rivalry back in the heyday of the Big East seems poised to make a come back with Lavin as a coach. Should be interesting to watch.
9. Notre Dame because they think they are such a better school in so many ways. They will always be in South Bend (even though they changed the name of their college town to Notre Dame) and we are in Capital of the Free World.
10. The WV Hillbillies - Boy do I hate it when their fans come to town. A coach with such great fashion sense is sometime hard to hate but then you look at his hair and just laugh.

[lurkerhoya]

Maryland and Duke are ones I left out because they were OOC. MD is the obvious biggest OOC rivalry. Fans and programs loathe each other. Duke has huge crossover appeal between the fanbases which makes this a fun rivalry. I know at least 8 kids from just my graduating HS class who went to Duke, and they have the same, nevermind different graduating years which only up the number. This one though really needs a game with something on the line to get off the ground. Re-upping the home and home would be a good start, but it needs that push from an NCAA game.

And if any Duke fans tell you 'Oh that game doesn't matter to us", just show them the ticket prices when we played at Cameron. Neither their fans nor ours are paying several hundred bucks for crappy seats to a game that doesn't matter.

[hoyatables]

For me, a rivalry is any game that gets me particularly juiced up. The games that I look for on the calendar, and make sure that I'm able to attend in person or view without interruption or possibility of spoilage. They're also the matchups that, come tournament time, make a BET game really special. They also (save one) tend to be the teams I paradoxically follow the closest in the NCAA tourney.

Because rivalries are defined, in large part, by the passion of the fans, we're each likely to have our own unique list of rivalries. It will be fun to see where everyone else falls.

Archrival - Syracuse

Key Rivals
- Nova: 1985, similar fan bases, Catholic school rivalry etc. Plus the games tend to be really intense. Our bands have had some legendary clashes that add to the fun.
- Pitt: they are undoubtedly one of the top, at least in terms of tight, tough games especially when the chips are on the line. The two BE championships alone make it huge, plus some awesome games (us ending their home win streak, etc etc)

The Johnnies and ND are also key for me because of personal in-family rivalries (grandparents and brother, respectively). Out of conference, Duke is now a rivalry by marriage now, too (wife and her entire family). When we play Fordham in football (or basketball), it's a pride game for family reasons as well, even though the likelihood of a close-fought game is slim, because my parents both went there.

[rosslynhoya]

Georgetown Basketball - Hated by Many, Rivaled by None

I loathe many of our Big East opponents and their loutish coaches and their insipid fans, but in many ways I hate to consider any of them our "rivals" since there's no real symmetry between our schools. My Syracuse hatred comes out in full force a couple times a year but I always feel dirty afterward that any of my attention was devoted to an academic backwater in southern Ontario that would never enter my thoughts any other time of the year. I just feel that we Hoyas should only look down on opponents like Cuse, Nova, UConn, and WVU (and don't get me started on the dead/moribund programs like SJU, SHU, and PC).

The only school in the league that would be an honest-to-goodness peer doesn't care about its basketball program except when it's winning, and even then prefers their underperforming football legacy!

Don't get me wrong, I think superan hit the nail on the head with the "Good vs. Evil" isn't a rivalry argument and I do get particularly juiced up whenever Georgetown takes the court against a conference foe. I just think that any enmity between us tends to take the pattern of a pest/afterthought trying to punch above its weight and I hate the thought of condescending to acknowledge them.

[sleepy]

"I hate the thought of condescending to acknowledge them."
Long before we shut Manley down The Rivalary with Maryland engendered a far more contentious relationship with the GU fans than anything that i have seen with Syracuse over the last 30 years. I know that is saying alot. Anyone who Remembers the old animal section high above McDonough will surely agree that pure hate for the Left-Handed redhead surpassed anything regarding the wife cheating whiner.