Rivals

[ConnMotors]

Watching the tournament it brought some memories back. Are there Classic Rival games still taking place in the women's game. We all remember the great Tennessee vs. Connecticut games. Geno referred to them as the Evil Empire. Back then I probably felt that way also. However, things change as we know. I happen to like Kelly Harper and I wish her and team well. During these years UConn also had rivals not just in conference against Rutgers as well as Notre Dame. Those battles were fun to watch at times and at others they would come down to rock fights like the other night against UCF. I hope at some point that Duke would schedule UConn once again. Again, I am a Kara Lawson fan. Those were always great games. And if anyone remembers Duke beat UConn in Bridgeport. Thanks Ms. Beard. LOL

What are some of the great rivalries out there in the women's game?

The three Carolina schools for sure...
Is Michigan vs. Ohio State the same as it is in Football?
Will South Carolina and Dawn vs. LSU now with Kim back in Louisiana become historic?
Lots of good teams out West but does Stanford have a true rival? Not that I'm aware of.
It will be interesting to see how the Texas - Oklahoma move works out. Those two schools have always battled in various sports. Plus, Texas doesn't like A&M.
I enjoyed watching the Iowa game the other day. Not because they lost but because the atmosphere from what I saw was electrifying. Does Iowa play Iowa State regularly?

I'm sure that they trickle down to the smaller conferences as well.

When I was in the military stationed in Norfolk, VA I recall going to see Old Dominion play. Whom did they play, I don't recall but I remember Anne Donovan being on their team. At 6'7" you could not miss her. I'm sure that back then they probably played Norfolk State, which was right down the street.

I'm hoping that the Big East continues to develop. Kudo's to Villanova, Creighton, Marquette, DePaul and Seton Hall. Maybe one day this conference will get as strong as one of the P5's.

Just a different topic to chat about if you wish too.

 

[UcMiami]

The TN/Uconn rivalry is I think the only national level rivalry ever in WCBB history and everyone took sides - old blood vs new blood, female coach/male coach, south vs north, Pat's cheese steak vs Geno' cheese steak, #1 vs #2. It was also I believe the only time when teams from different conferences scheduled yearly home and home games and sometimes met three times in a season.

Uconn/ND took on some of that as well but there was a period when ND just wasn't very competitive so the best part of it was not very long.

Uconn/Stanford meh - never gained a lot of traction because it wasn't a yearly deal for long periods.
Uconn/Baylor meh - same deal as with Stanford

Uconn/ Rutgers meh - a few years, but Uconn generally dominated

Uconn/SC - could become one if both teams maintain their level, but the coaches are good friends so not quite the hatred. SC breaking through with wins is too recent.
Uconn.Louisville - same as SC

UNC/Duke has good history, but neither team has consistently been good since Hatchell/GG days

Other schools - there just hasn't been the consistency in quality of two rivalry teams over a long enough period of time to build TX/Baylor/A&M/OK could have developed but one team or another has generally dominated most of the history. Same with any rivalries in the SEC the Big10 and the Pac - teams challenge for a few years but then drop off.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Oregon-Stanford and Oregon-OSU have been pretty good for much of the past 5-6 years. (For whatever reason, Tara has tended to have Rueck's number even when their teams are equally good. It feels like Stanford has beaten OSU by <5 points about 12 times since Rueck took over).

Stanford-Tennessee has been pretty good for much of the past two decades as well, with many home and aways. I've personally also enjoyed our rivalries with Baylor, Notre Dame, and Louisville, because it's felt like both teams have won meaningfully games when it counts, so there's a lot history at stake. But those have mostly been post-season tilts rather than home and aways.

The main problem with developing rivalries is that if the participants don't act like they're dying to kill the other team, it's hard to maintain the fuego to fuel it. Geno and Pat really didn't like each other. Tara likes basically everyone, and as Haley Jones recently said, the monkey on our team's back is always that "we're not just the nice girls from Stanford." I mean really, who watches Haley Jones and thinks, "I want to kill her!"

 

[ConnMotors]

The main problem with developing rivalries is that if the participants don't act like they're dying to kill the other team, it's hard to maintain the fuego to fuel it. Geno and Pat really didn't like each other. Tara likes basically everyone, and as Haley Jones recently said, the monkey on our team's back is always that "we're not just the nice girls from Stanford." I mean really, who watches Haley Jones and thinks, "I want to kill her!"

Again, I enjoy watching good teams play. I rooted for Stanford last year and if they make it to the Finals I will root for them once again. Just wished that their 9 and 11:00 EDT games started sooner. a fun group of ladies to watch play. And you are so correct on the Haley statement.

 

[LETTERL]

It's a new rivalry...but NC State/Louisville has been a must-watch for a few seasons now, ever since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014. Louisville still leads the all-time series and may regain momentum, but NC State has won the last 3 games in the series.

 

[Zanzman]

Again, I enjoy watching good teams play. I rooted for Stanford last year and if they make it to the Finals I will root for them once again. Just wished that their 9 and 11:00 EDT games started sooner. a fun group of ladies to watch play. And you are so correct on the Haley statement.

They do start earlier……….. on the west coast

 

[triaddukefan]

UNC/Duke has good history, but neither team has consistently been good since Hatchell/GG days

Other schools - there just hasn't been the consistency in quality of two rivalry teams over a long enough period of time to build TX/Baylor/A&M/OK could have developed but one team or another has generally dominated most of the history. Same with any rivalries in the SEC the Big10 and the Pac - teams challenge for a few years but then drop off.

One small bone of contention.. Duke's win total season by season under McCallie. 25,27,30,32,27,33,28,20,28,24,15,18. 13 seasons.., 3 Sweet 16's.... 4 Elite 8's (all in a row), 3 second round upsets...one declined WNIT, one .500 season, and one post-season cancelled. There are probably less than 10 high major programs with better win totals in that stretch.

Not a national rivalry, but a great regional one. Though it hasn't happened since 2014.... whenever the two meet at the ACC tournament in Greensboro.... its a fun and spirited enviroment. Especially since most of the meetings have been either the following day after the two rivals meet on the men's side... or a few hours before the men's game in some years.

 

[bballnut90]

Seems to go in bursts based on when teams catch fire or not. Tennessee/UCONN was the most distinguishable, lasting 13 years and seemingly every game had something significant on the line.

UCONN/Notre Dame was up there too but the peak of the rivalry was from 2011-2019, so it wasn't as long but the animosity was huge.

Other short lived rivalries that were fun:

-South Carolina vs Mississippi State from 2017-2020

-Notre Dame/Louisville from 2018-2019. Coaches were not fans of each other which added fuel to the fire.

-Tennessee/LSU from 2003-2008. Both teams were in the title hunt every year during that stretch, some epic SEC Championships and Final Four finishes. No major animosity (especially considering LSU had 4 different coaches in that span) but those games were dog fights.

-South Carolina/Mizzou. Lots of bad blood that was cleared up in a great way but I don't think the fan bases care for each other.

-UCONN-Rutgers was pretty hotly contested from around 1998-2008 I believe. UCONN was almost always better, but Rutgers could win a game here and there, and they played an ugly but effective brand of basketball. That game was the prime matchup in the Big East for a while.

 

[ConwayGmck]

It will be very hard for another Connecticut/Tennessee rivalry to pop up again. Both teams not only had different styles of play, but both spent the most of their rivalry building what today are the top two most successful programs in WCBB history, by a large margin. That level of elite success only added to the tension and prestige of the rivalry - there were few stretches of where one or both programs had lower success, and both programs regularly had among the most talented rosters and leaders for national individual accolades and awards, as they were battling each other on the hardwood.

So there were always tons of national relevancy and interesting talking points, regardless who were beating who at the time....

 

[UcMiami]

One small bone of contention.. Duke's win total season by season under McCallie. 25,27,30,32,27,33,28,20,28,24,15,18. 13 seasons.., 3 Sweet 16's.... 4 Elite 8's (all in a row), 3 second round upsets...one declined WNIT, one .500 season, and one post-season cancelled. There are probably less than 10 high major programs with better win totals in that stretch.

Not a national rivalry, but a great regional one. Though it hasn't happened since 2014.... whenever the two meet at the ACC tournament in Greensboro.... its a fun and spirited enviroment. Especially since most of the meetings have been either the following day after the two rivals meet on the men's side... or a few hours before the men's game in some years.

I think UNC didn't really hold up their end of the rivalry - 2005-2008 was heated, but UNC hasn't done much since except a blip in 2013 with their huge class that then disintigrated almost overnight. Whereas Duke was strong from mid-nineties through most of JPM's years. The schools hate each other, but the WBB teams haven't spent a lot of time being equally competitive.

Maybe I'm just eyeing it from afar and it is hotter within the ACC and within the Carolinas.

 

[southie]

I feel like we've lost more rivalries over the last several decades than we've gained. And, a lot of that has to do with head coaches leaving, and elite programs no longer being elite, and up-and-comers not being able to sustain success for more than a few seasons

Old rivalries like between Tennessee and Louisiana Tech, and Texas vs Texas Tech are simply memories now.

Most current rivalries include UConn, and that's because of all the success for so many years. Whether it was their rivalry with Tennessee, Duke, or Notre Dame, they just aren't the same as one-half of those rivals is not the successful program they once were.

 

[Bjbod]

I enjoyed watching the Iowa game the other day. Not because they lost but because the atmosphere from what I saw was electrifying. Does Iowa play Iowa State regularly?

Iowa, Iowa State, and the 2 MVC teams (Drake/Northern Iowa) all play each other each year. Definite rivalry games, especially Iowa/ISU. Records don't often mean much in these games; this year UNI missed two shots in the last 11 seconds to lose at Iowa State 70-69. Lots of Iowa kids on the 4 teams so always well-attended contests. Great non-conference games for everyone.

 

[triaddukefan]

Iowa, Iowa State, and the 2 MVC teams (Drake/Northern Iowa) all play each other each year. Definite rivalry games, especially Iowa/ISU. Records don't often mean much in these games; this year UNI missed two shots in the last 11 seconds to lose at Iowa State 70-69. Lots of Iowa kids on the 4 teams so always well-attended contests. Great non-conference games for everyone.

oh yeah??

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Arizona / Arizona State is a rivalry game, as are other in state affairs in many states. It is less about the coaches or the relative success, and more about the fact that the fan bases dislike each other. I believe Texas and Texas A&M fan bases loathe each other.

Historically, Rutgers rivalry teams included Penn State and Seton Hall, but in Women's Basketball they didn't play Penn State all that often during the Big East years, whereas they tended to dominate Seton Hall (during those years, Seton Hall wasn't especially good).

UConn / Rutgers was good while it lasted, UConn did dominate, but games were competitive.. In the end, Rutgers took 6 wins and 34 losses, however from the season ending in 2005 to the season ending in 2008, RU won 5 and UConn 6; the last one was the Sweet 16 in Greensboro where RU was up in the first half and UConn came back and crushed them. Never won another game against UConn.

 

[GoCardinal]

I wouldn't necessarily call this a rivalry since Stanford has dominated, but from about 2013-2018 Stanford vs Cal was pretty interesting.

 

[Bigboote]

All the conference shuffling has ruined a lot of rivalries. UVA-Maryland set a record for WBB attendance around 1990 or so. 14,000 fans in University Hall, which had a capacity around 9,000. They were cited by the fire marshall.

UConn - Rutgers
UConn - Notre Dame (glad they're still scheduling, but not playing 2-3 times a year any more)
Texas - A&M
etc.

 

[visitingcock]

Seems to go in bursts based on when teams catch fire or not. Tennessee/UCONN was the most distinguishable, lasting 13 years and seemingly every game had something significant on the line.

UCONN/Notre Dame was up there too but the peak of the rivalry was from 2011-2019, so it wasn't as long but the animosity was huge.

Other short lived rivalries that were fun:

-South Carolina vs Mississippi State from 2017-2020

-Notre Dame/Louisville from 2018-2019. Coaches were not fans of each other which added fuel to the fire.

-Tennessee/LSU from 2003-2008. Both teams were in the title hunt every year during that stretch, some epic SEC Championships and Final Four finishes. No major animosity (especially considering LSU had 4 different coaches in that span) but those games were dog fights.

-South Carolina/Mizzou. Lots of bad blood that was cleared up in a great way but I don't think the fan bases care for each other.

-UCONN-Rutgers was pretty hotly contested from around 1998-2008 I believe. UCONN was almost always better, but Rutgers could win a game here and there, and they played an ugly but effective brand of basketball. That game was the prime matchup in the Big East for a while.

Yup. But I don’t know if a lawsuit is a great way of “clearing it up”

 

[bballnut90]

Yup. But I don’t know if a lawsuit is a great way of “clearing it up”

I was referring to when they all came together in unison locking arms before the game....forgot about the lawsuit

 

[ClifSpliffy]

more east coast bias stuff.
hey! the whole cal/stanford/usc thing is very real, and for a long time, just a bit muted when compared to our 'spirited' ways around here. they don't match in intensity, or attendance, but the rivalry thing is there, just kind of laid back.
overheard at the beach,
'u goin to the game?'
'who is playing?'
'fresno's in, could be lots of fresno girls coming to watch, you in?'
'hmmm, fresno girls, lie here by the waves, fresno girls, lie here by the waves...... ummm, no. could you get me a mountain dew?'

up next- Texas. and it feels like the kettle is starting to boil in Florida, too.

 

[KY Card Fan]

It's a new rivalry...but NC State/Louisville has been a must-watch for a few seasons now, ever since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014. Louisville still leads the all-time series and may regain momentum, but NC State has won the last 3 games in the series.

I agree. The two coaches seem to like and respect each other, and the last few years have seen some great, well-played games.

While conference rivalries are always interesting and important, virtually every Louisville fan that I know would say that Kentucky is the one must-win game on the schedule.

 

[UcMiami]

Sorry if in my original post people felt I was dissing regions/states/conferences. I know there are some really strong school rivalries based on football and MCBB. I just haven't gotten the sense that the WCBB teams/fans have really participated in the school rivalries that much partly because the competition hasn't held up consistently.

Until realignment Ohio State pretty well dominated the Big10, TN dominated the SEC until Pat left and SC took over (with a nod to a few years of MS State), Baylor came out of a tussle to see who replaced TX in the Big12, and Stanford reigned in the Pac. Creating rivalries across conferences is much harder though instate ones like Louisville/KY or Iowa/Iowa State are inbred in the local populations. The ACC had a nice rivalry between variously MD, Duke, and UNC but realignment brought in ND and Louisville who have dominated and shipped out MD.

Stanford vs _______ (ND, TN, Uconn, ...) have all been good competitive games, but haven't been consistent for more than a few years in a row, Same with Baylor vs ______, Louisville vs _______, ND vs _________, etc.

Good rivalries generally need something beyond state bragging rights to play for - UNC and Duke men's basketball are trying to destroy each others national profile as well as beat each other up, for example. In WCBB most 'rivalries' haven't sustained that extra urgency.

 

[TC22]

I was referring to when they all came together in unison locking arms before the game....forgot about the lawsuit

LOL that’s because they had to. The fans still absolutely hate each other and the funny thing is it carried over to……..football.

SC/Tenn is a good rivalry and SC/LSU is going to be a good one.

 

[Bayareahusky]

I feel like we've lost more rivalries over the last several decades than we've gained. And, a lot of that has to do with head coaches leaving, and elite programs no longer being elite, and up-and-comers not being able to sustain success for more than a few seasons

Old rivalries like between Tennessee and Louisiana Tech, and Texas vs Texas Tech are simply memories now.

Most current rivalries include UConn, and that's because of all the success for so many years. Whether it was their rivalry with Tennessee, Duke, or Notre Dame, they just aren't the same as one-half of those rivals is not the successful program they once were.

Too bad for the game of WCBB that TN - UC was killed in 2007.... that game was highly anticipated each year and attracted large number of crossover male fans from the guys game.... as well as the hardcore fans of the womens game.... rivalries are normally born in conference.... because often teams will back out based on assessment of chances of winning Kim M is good at doing this..... hope the womens game can find rivalry which lives up to half of what UT UC provided during its heyday