You know what really grinds my gears?

[beaner]

Ahh you're right. I think I'm getting my Capels mixed up .

Dad definitely hates State more. Might have something to do with his Wake Forest upbringing, where Duke was never as big a rival. He's definitely a Carolina fan first, now, with Maryland #2 and Wake as a solid #3.

Living in Maryland for 25 years now has probably softened his anti-State bias and gotten a little more anti-Duke, as the rivals up here were definitely Carolina and now Duke (the Carolina part is a little weird, I think, since State and Maryland had so many great games in the 70s). But if Duke and State were playing for the ACC Tournament title, he'd probably go with Duke.

However, one thing he has instilled in me is to always root for the conference if all else is equal. So when Duke has been in the NCAA Title games recently, he would root for them. And he still loves talking about State's 1983 run. So let me pose that question. If Duke or State (or UNC for SG) were in the NCAA title game, opposing a team from a different conference, would you root for them or against them?

Wow, this is a toughie, but i would Root for State but not Dook. Although Jim Valvano may have been the most overrated figure in College Hoops history, but that's a topic for another thread. As for Dook, it's just not possible. I hate everything Coach K stands for, from his politics to his Basketball.

I do root for Maryland every game except the Tar Heel games, so I'm the anti Busta in that repsect.

[Grady]

Auburn/ Alabama might be the biggest rivalry in all sports bar none. So get over it Dukies. When your coach gets fired for losing to the other school,when families break up over the game, thats a rivalry.

As for hating Duke, I hated them since Buck was cut by Dennard and no call, since they did the most classless thing I have ever seen fans do in sports, throw condoms on the court at Herman Veal. Some of the totally classless things they have said to Juan Dixon,thats why I hate Duke. Yet there coach has the nerve to complain when Boozers Mom makes a fool of herself, and some idiot fan thows a water bottle at her, wrong to do ,but people in glass houses should not throw stones. I know I just threw stones here.

[Nuclear Dish]

Funny thing though...my father, who went to UNC in the early 80s and was there for their first National Championship, also grew up on the campus of Wake Forest. So he is pretty intimately familiar with ACC basketball, especially in the state of North Carolina. According to him, if you ask any Carolina fan over 30, they'd say that their biggest rival is State, not Duke. One of these days, I'm going to find a rivalry where both sides acknowledge that it is, in fact, a rivalry

1. Carolina's first National Championship was in 1924. Their second was in 1957. Your father was there for their 3rd championship, in 1982. This is very important to note, since dookies like to think that the score on National Titles is 3-3 (which it is, since 1982). But, as usual, they are wrong, and Carolina has the upper hand, 5-3.

2. The Carolina-State rivalry exists, and is pretty strong. However, that rivalry was only dominant between the late-60's and early 80's, when State had its best teams (David Thompson, Norm Sloan, Jim Valvano).

3. My dad, my uncle, and my cousin were at Carolina in the early 60's, and there is nothing they hate more than dook. So your father's statement is far from true. I'd say people who grew up on UNC basketball between 1968-1984 might agree with him, much the way someone who grew up on dook basketball (the poor soul) between 2001-2004 might mistakenly think of Maryland as a bigger rival than Carolina. But there's just no doubting that dook was, is, and always will be the most hated entity for Carolina fans.

[sangell2007]

Auburn/ Alabama might be the biggest rivalry in all sports bar none. So get over it Dukies. When your coach gets fired for losing to the other school,when families break up over the game, thats a rivalry.

As for hating Duke, I hated them since Buck was cut by Dennard and no call, since they did the most classless thing I have ever seen fans do in sports, throw condoms on the court at Herman Veal. Some of the totally classless things they have said to Juan Dixon,thats why I hate Duke. Yet there coach has the nerve to complain when Boozers Mom makes a fool of herself, and some idiot fan thows a water bottle at her, wrong to do ,but people in glass houses should not throw stones. I know I just threw stones here.

And why I hate Virginia. UVA/Duke for any sort of title, be it ACC or NCAA or the Harris Teeter Invitational in the middle of November, would be the most miserable situation I can imagine.

[beaner]

No I did not take it as an insult at all but I saw what you were driving at. I'm aware of the history between the two teams and I certainly respect all that the rivalry has meant not only to the ACC (making it the premier basketball conference in basketball) but the sport itself.

I think a lot of it has to do with rivalries being somewhat cyclical. They are always there, but some years they are stronger than others. Yanks/Red Sox was non-existent from 1978 to about the late 90s in terms of the rivalry having importance for THAT YEAR (i.e. the games meant something in terms of success that season) but it was still a rivalry. UNC and Dook wasn't as big a few years back when UNC wasn't great. Now, it appears UNC and Dook are both set to be very good the next few years so you may see a resurgance in how people view that rivalry.

I guess this is part of the reason why it is hard to gauge what rivalry is THE BEST in sports. Most of it is opinion in terms of what teams and sports you enjoy and I think most people that are unbiased would tend to vote for whichever rivalry is "hot" at the time (like Yanks/Sox in three ALCS's in six years or OSU playing Michigan this year #1 vs. #2).

Cool. I don't disagree on the greatness of those rivalries, dont get me wrong. Ok, maybe the BEST in SPORTS comment is my bias shining through, and I'll take back the nothing comes close comment, but I still think it's the best.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Auburn/ Alabama might be the biggest rivalry in all sports bar none. So get over it Dukies. When your coach gets fired for losing to the other school,when families break up over the game, thats a rivalry.

As for hating Duke, I hated them since Buck was cut by Dennard and no call, since they did the most classless thing I have ever seen fans do in sports, throw condoms on the court at Herman Veal. Some of the totally classless things they have said to Juan Dixon,thats why I hate Duke. Yet there coach has the nerve to complain when Boozers Mom makes a fool of herself, and some idiot fan thows a water bottle at her, wrong to do ,but people in glass houses should not throw stones. I know I just threw stones here.

Again, that's just an asinine blanket statement that cannot possibly be true. How many people care about this rivalry outside of the SEC. Hell, how many people care about it outside of the state of Alabama?

Auburn/Alabama may not even be the best rivalry in college football let alone all of sports. It's just too hard to gauge but I'm fairly sure that Carr was on the hot seat coming into this season partially because of how he has faired against OSU recently.

As far as families breaking up over a rivalry. If it's true that sports are important enough to people to tear apart the fabric of family in a literal malicious sense, I can only write that off as pure extremism that shouldn't really be accounted for when deciding which rivalry is best.

[mweb]

Looking through my search for the best rivalries, it seems that Ohio State-Michigan has gotten the most support, and it's not all from this year where that rivalry was in the spotlight more than usual. Duke-UNC got plenty of support too, but not close to OSU-UM, and about the same as the NYY-Red Sox rivalry.

[beaner]

And why I hate Virginia. UVA/Duke for any sort of title, be it ACC or NCAA or the Harris Teeter Invitational in the middle of November, would be the most miserable situation I can imagine.

The Fans treatment of Dixon at those schools was unacceptable and in the worst possible taste imaginable. However, the Maryland fans throwing water bottles and hitting Carlos Boozer's parents (Maryland grads) and their taunts about Redick's sister were also done in poor taste. Gotta admit that.

[sangell2007]

The Fans treatment of Dixon at those schools was unacceptable and in the worst possible taste imaginable. However, the Maryland fans throwing water bottles and hitting Carlos Boozer's parents (Maryland grads) and their taunts about Redick's sister were also done in poor taste. Gotta admit that.

Sure. Not to excuse it, but I feel like a majority of our "bad" behavior over the past 5 or 6 years has been the result of the complete ineptitude of the administration. They have taken away things like seats behind the visitors' bench and Rock and Roll Part II, things that really haven't caused problems when you get down to it. They've convinced us that we are "Classless Thugs," and like any good college students, we aren't going to just give into their stupid "Act Like You Know" campaigns. Long story short, if they had handled situations better and not imposed pointless punishments on the entire student body for the actions of a few people, things would be better.

I'll add that I'm still convinced that if the nation's capital (and therefore a huge media contingent) was just minutes from Durham, the Cameron Crazies would have a significantly worse reputation than we do. Inexcusable though they may be, these sorts of things happen everywhere.

[Nuclear Dish]

However, one thing he has instilled in me is to always root for the conference if all else is equal. So when Duke has been in the NCAA Title games recently, he would root for them. And he still loves talking about State's 1983 run. So let me pose that question. If Duke or State (or UNC for SG) were in the NCAA title game, opposing a team from a different conference, would you root for them or against them?

This is easy. At Carolina, it's crystal clear: ABD.

We root for Carolina first, then the ACC, except for dook. There is never a single situation in my entire life in which I've rooted for dook to win in ANY sport, and especially not basketball.

Carolina could need a dook win to qualify for the tournament, and I'd still root against dook. dook could be 1-25 and Carolina could be 25-1 and in need of a dook win to win the ACC regular season championship and get a #1 seed in the tournament, and I'd root against dook. Hell, it would be hard for me to root for dook if my own life depended on it.

As for this whole rivalry thing, two things:

1. Younger Maryland fans might not remember this, but the Terps fans were the ones who invented ABC (anybody but Carolina). There is no doubt that growing up in the 70's and 80's, Terps fans in Maryland despised Carolina and couldn't have cared less about State or dook (even though there were those couple years of great matchups with State). And even through most of the 90's, Maryland fans hated Carolina the most. Oh, sure, they would relish a good win over dook, but there was nothing they liked more than rubbing it in when they beat UNC.

2. Football rivalries are all well and good. But I really don't think you guys understand the hatred that exists between Carolina and dook. People refuse to hire the grads from the other school. People refuse to be buried anywhere near the grads from the other school. The players, who probably acknowledge the dislike less than anyone else, fight on airplanes once they are far removed from their alma maters. It is WAY beyond a little basketball rivalry. It is a life-and-death, absolute bottom of your soul passion that you cannot alter in any way. I hate dook more than just about anything in this world. It's not healthy. And yet, I acknowledge it, I embrace it, and I allow it to consume me, for without it, I would only be a shell of myself. I challenge anyone to match that in any of these other rivalries.

[beaner]

I grew up in the 70's. As a MD fan, the team I hated most back then was NC State. Primarily because of The Game, but also because I was sick and tired of the great David Thompson, and because of that weasel Norm Sloan. Not to mention Monte Towe and Rick (one of the ugliest men ever) Burleson.

I also didn't care for UNC because of Dean Smith, and the four corners, and Phil Ford. Eventually I came to respect UNC - a respect that is still going strong today.

Duke wasn't even on my personal radar in the 70's. I first began to dislike Duke during the Gene Banks / Mike Gminski days (or was that actually late 70s?). When MD was down following the Bias incident, and during the Wade days, I actually didn't mind Duke (but I only rooted for them outside of the ACC). I liked Danny Ferry when he played there (his Dad was GM of the Bullets), and didn't really blame him for picking Duke. I also liked Grant Hill, and (it kills me to say this) Christian Laettner.

Another team I never cared for was UVA, especially after Wally Walker almost singlehandedly beat a pretty good MD team in the ACC tourney the one time it was played in Landover (was it only held there once?). I also hated the way they landed Jeff Lamp (I believe they hired his Dad to be an Ass't), and Jeff Jones. I also hated the fact that Ralph Sampson picked UVA over MD (I remember that Lefty thought he had him).

Looking back on it, Lefty reportedly came close on a lot of players. Does anyone remember when Moses Malone had actually started classes at MD, but then signed with the ABA? (sorry for going off topic)

Great post, I always felt that Virginia was such a natural rival for Maryland location wise. Both teams have had success although they've been at different times at least in my years as a fan.

Lefty is the only coach who ever got a North Carolina player of the year away from Dean Smith (Gatlin and Buck). This heated up the Lefty-Dean rivalry as well.

[mweb]

Dallas / Washington used to be one heckuva rivalry, but it has mostly died.

It was still in the top 10 or 15 in the lists I saw.

[Nuclear Dish]

Looking through my search for the best rivalries, it seems that Ohio State-Michigan has gotten the most support, and it's not all from this year where that rivalry was in the spotlight more than usual. Duke-UNC got plenty of support too, but not close to OSU-UM, and about the same as the NYY-Red Sox rivalry.

When was that poll posted? These things tend to be cyclical. They do them all the time for their "Rivalry Week" promotions. So at football time, they post it, and OSU-Michigan wins. Then they do it again at basketball time, and UNC-dook wins. Then they do it in baseball season, and NYY-BOS wins.

I don't doubt that OSU-Michigan is intense, but I always thought Auburn-'bama was bigger. And there are other college football rivalries that can make a case (OU-Nebraska, Army-Navy, etc.). And if there's even a debate about which one of those is the best rivalry in its own sport, how can it really be the best of them all? There's no doubt about UNC-dook being the best one in college basketball, and there's no doubt about NYY-BOS in baseball. To me, those are the 1 and 1a of rivalries in sports in the US of A.

[beaner]

Sure. Not to excuse it, but I feel like a majority of our "bad" behavior over the past 5 or 6 years has been the result of the complete ineptitude of the administration. They have taken away things like seats behind the visitors' bench and Rock and Roll Part II, things that really haven't caused problems when you get down to it. They've convinced us that we are "Classless Thugs," and like any good college students, we aren't going to just give into their stupid "Act Like You Know" campaigns. Long story short, if they had handled situations better and not imposed pointless punishments on the entire student body for the actions of a few people, things would be better.

I'll add that I'm still convinced that if the nation's capital (and therefore a huge media contingent) was just minutes from Durham, the Cameron Crazies would have a significantly worse reputation than we do. Inexcusable though they may be, these sorts of things happen everywhere.

Yea, stopping Rock and Roll part II really solved it all. It does happen everywhere but for some reason Maryland fans are singled out. I have a friend who's an Arizona grad and he told me that the Terps students were horribly behaved in Minneapolis at the Final Four in 2001, very rude and disrespectful. I dont know any details.

[Sports Guy]

Ohio State vs. Michigan?

The thing that you are missing, IMO, is the closeness of the schools.

That is what seperates the rivalry and really, unless you are down there in the middle of it, you probably don't know how important and how much fo a rivalry it really is.

I personally think no pro sport rivalry comes close. I think the only ones that come close are in college athletics...Mich/OSU, Ala/Aub and the one that doesn't get enough pub...Army/Navy.