Rivalry. It’s a term you hear so frequently in sports discussions.
By Wikipedia’s definition, a rivalry is described as “an intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans.”
As sports fans, we all have our own idea of what the best rivalry is, whether it is Red Sox vs. Yankees, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Duke vs. North Carolina, Auburn vs. Alabama, Cowboys vs. Redskins.
I could go on without end.
With Nebraska’s important Thursday night road game at Missouri, some fans or media members have referred to the two teams as “rivals.” That list includes Omaha World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel, who is also a Missouri graduate: http://www.omaha.com/article/20091003/SPORTS/710049916
However, Shatel also added that the rivalry is largely based on potential. There are some elements of a rivalry. See Missouri’s upset win in 1978 and Matt Davison’s miracle catch in 1997 to keep the Huskers hopes for a National Title afloat.
One thing is for sure, neither fan base or program likes each other but passion alone, however, does not spark rivalries. If a rivalry is a bigger deal at one school than it is the other, then it’s not a rivalry. In Missouri’s case, the dislike is based on jealousy. In Nebraska’s case, it’s based on Missouri being cocky about nothing.
If one team dominates the other, it’s not a rivalry — one team is the hammer and the other is the nail. High school and college rivalries tend to be more untainted because the kids are at an impressionable stage of their lives.
Their eyes light up not only on game day but in the days leading up to the game.
Granted, a lifelong Raiders fan wouldn’t dare root for the Broncos or Chiefs.
A lifelong Giants fan wouldn’t dare root for the Dodgers. A lifelong Cowboys fan wouldn’t dare root for the Eagles.
A lifelong Red Sox fan wouldn’t dare root for the Yankees.
However, the excitement you see at the college level or in some cases high school cannot be duplicated in the pros because that level of sport has been polluted with lockouts, exorbitant salaries and steroid testing.
When I think of rivalry, I mostly think of a few things: a) There is definite polarization as in there’s no way in hell you could root for the other team, b) The game usually means something when the two teams play, and c) Fans will watch the game even if they don’t care about either team.
Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma and others fit that description. OK, sure, you can say Harvard-Yale but how many people are going to drop whatever they are doing to watch that game? Since I have lived much of my life in Northern California (save for four years while attending the University of Nebraska), I have found it also comical how Cal-Stanford is called “The Big Game.”
Sure, there was the game in 1982. After Stanford had taken a 20-19 lead on a field goal with four seconds left in the game, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and earn a 25-20 victory. Members of the Stanford Band had come onto the field midway through the return, believing that the game was over, which added to the ensuing confusion. The game might be a rivalry but it is hardly big because unless you live in Northern California and have a rooting interest in either team, you’re not going to watch it.
For years, Nebraska was rivals with Oklahoma. The interesting thing is that OU has generally considered Texas its biggest rival but Nebraska-Oklahoma was the traditional game that took place the day after Thanksgiving. Plus, both teams were good at the same time for many years, combining for 12 National Championship (OU has seven, NU has five) and dominated the Big Eight conference, which has since expanded to the Big 12.
With that expansion, both teams play each other two years out of every four since Nebraska is in the Big 12 North and Oklahoma is in the Big 12 South. Since 1993, the two clubs have only share two good seasons (2001 and to a lesser extent 2006). OU suffered some fallow years from 1994-1998 before Bob Stoops arrived to resurrect the program. Nebraska suffered mostly subpar years from 2002-2007 but appears to be on its way back to prominence under Bo Pelini.
Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri have had elements of the notion “rivalry” with Nebraska the last 15 or so years as the meetings have been testy at times. Bill McCartney was known for “red lettering” Nebraska on the schedule but a segment of Husker fans even to this day do not consider it a rivalry.
I would sort of disagree with that notion. Since 1993, the two teams have met 17 times with Nebraska winning 12 games but six by a touchdown or less and eight by ten points or fewer. To take it a step further, did you see CU’s 62-36 blowout over the unbeaten Huskers in 2001 or NU’s 30-3 blowout in 2005 coming?
Kansas State made a tremendous turnaround under Bill Snyder (now back for his second stint after replacing Ron Prince). The Wildcats defeated Nebraska 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004. However, it should also be pointed out that the only one of those Husker teams that finished in the top ten was the 2000 club that went 11-2. The 2004 and 2007 Huskers went 5-6 and 5-7 respectively and were the worst in post Bob Devaney history. The 2007 Nebraska team trounced the Wildcats 73-31.
Missouri has been mostly fair-to-middlin before having a breakout 12-2 season in 2007. The 2008 campaign came with a lot of hype and while 10-4 and Big 12 North title is not a failure per se, it was not the enormous success most envisioned. Missouri beat Nebraska in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Two of those wins were Bill Callahan teams (2005 and 2007) while the 2008 team had a lot of Callahan remnants. The timing of that game also came before Nebraska finished its season winning six of its final seven games.
As for Missouri, other than 1997, the Tigers were routinely hammered by the best of Nebraska. K-State was also routinely exposed by the best Nebraska teams as well.
Granted, getting blown out by the Huskers from 1993-1997 was hardly a disgrace but Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri’s success against Nebraska have almost as much to do with the Huskers fall as it does their rise.
Point being, of the three, Colorado is the closest thing to a rivalry because they have battled the Huskers close consistently when they were in their prime. Plus, the aforementioned 2001 game between the two teams sent Nebraska into a tailspin.
That said, I don't think Nebraska has a true rival. If they played Oklahoma every year like they did in the Big Eight, then I believe it'd be one of the best rivalry games in the country no matter if its one sided or not.The Huskers have had so much success over the years against the five other North teams, I don't consider them as a rival in the truest sense.
In a nutshell, the notion of “rivalry” is more applicable across the board in high school or college than it is on the pro level.
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