Who is our rival now? | The Boneyard

Who is our rival now?

Which team is our biggest rival

  • Marquette

    Votes: 54 20.3%

  • Creighton

    Votes: 24 9.0%

  • St John's

    Votes: 29 10.9%

  • Seton Hall

    Votes: 1 0.4%

  • PC

    Votes: 93 35.0%

  • Depaul

    Votes: 4 1.5%

  • Nova

    Votes: 60 22.6%

  • Gtown

    Votes: 1 0.4%

  • Butler

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Xavier

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    266
Jaydumo20

Jaydumo20

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I posted a thread recently about Cuse no longer being a real rival of ours. There was mixed reaction as to be expected.
Which BE team is our biggest rival and why?
 
I don't think we have ever had traditional a "rival" in the sense that you see it with UNC/Duke, PC/URI, Xavier/Cinci, etc. I don't think we have a rival at all right now. We have rivalries with certain teams that come and go depending on the conference situation, how good each team is, etc.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
I posted a thread recently about Cuse no longer being a real rival of ours. There was mixed reaction as to be expected.
Which BE team is our biggest rival and why?
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Hard to say who our main rival is. Even back in the 90s and 2000s I would say Syracuse, but you could say Pitt for the 2000s as UConn and Pitt had some heated battles. But those were never long lasting or vitriolic like the rivalry of Duke-Carolina, Kentucky-Louisville, or Xavier-Cincinnati in basketball. I always had tough time with this question because for my other favorite teams the NY Giants, NY Yankees, and the former Hartford Whalers, all three teams had heated rivals. But UConn in the 90s and 2000s were just better than everyone else in the Big East so they seemed to have strong rivalries with other teams but never a main rival.

Right now UConn has a New England rivalry with Providence and a New York rivalry with St. John's. I love both of those. I think they have a rivalry with Creighton that is getting stronger due to both teams being good. I know I hated UConn being 0-5 against Creighton all time before finally beating them at Gampel last year.
 
No one. I don't despise anyone the way I did in the old Big East. Nova was the best shot, but with Jay Wright gone, I don't see it anymore. There's not enough history for it to be any of the newer teams. Maybe in 10 years I'll feel differently about Creighton.
 
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Oh God GIF by DuroflexWorld
 
UCLA doesnt have a rival either, especially now with their move to the BIG
 
I can't call PC "the" rival even though I want to. The geography would make them the best candidate but they don't win anything. The fact that we're their super bowl every year but they're just an annoying gnat to us disqualifies them. I don't think any of us hate PC, but we all hated Syracuse. I hate playing PC but that's because they play a scrub style of ball. Until our fans start viscerally hating them I can't consider them our biggest rival, but I truly hope that changes.

UConn fans and Creighton fans got into it a few years ago after we lost to them in the BET. They're already a bigger rival.
 
7774 said:
what?
Expand ...
who's their rival in bball? usc is a football rival and so is Cal but they both suck at bball. 11 chips to 0 isnt a rivalry. i woulda said Zona for bball but they will be in different conferences.
 
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Greedo said:
No one. I don't despise anyone the way I did in the old Big East. Nova was the best shot, but with Jay Wright gone, I don't see it anymore. There's not enough history for it to be any of the newer teams. Maybe in 10 years I'll feel differently about Creighton.
Expand ...
Agreed. I feel Creighton has the most potential in the future if they remain competitive. But also think that if St. John's won one against us this year it would've been more heated, with the Pitino Hurley thing and the battle for MSG, etc. etc.
 
Marquette and Creighton are the only programs that in the Big East that have won consistently and have a strong foundation to their programs. They are the ones whom I feel are the biggest threats to achieving our goals. Xavier would be up there this year if not for the injuries. I don't see anyone else proving themselves to be threats in March at this point. I'm not even confident that Pitino will get it going at St. Johns. He's old, old school, and I can't imagine him being able to build a winning culture at the High D1 level in the NIL/portal era. All of the other coaches haven't proven anything yet. I think Butler will be closer to the top before St. Johns. If Kim English can elevate recruiting, maybe he has a chance to surpass what Cooley accomplished. If Seton Hall can get their NIL program straightened out they might have a chance with Holloway. I'm not worried about Georgetown. I'd be surprised if Cooley has the fortitude and patience to build Georgetown back up. Like Pitino, I'm not sure that he has the charisma to capture the hearts and minds of his players, especially after the whole Divine Providence debacle. His actions and words have generated a lot of possible negative recruiting material. Neptune seems to be going down, possibly in flames. And then DePaul doesn't even deserve a seat at the table at this point.
 
Palatine said:
In the 50s and 60s -- URI

In the 70s - UMess

In the 80s - BCU

In the 90s - UMess

In the 00s - Syracuse 9 (small nod to Pitt)

Currently - None.
Expand ...
I think you have to give more than a small nod to Pitt. We lost our two greatest rivals when they went to the ACC. We really have no one currently that compares to those two schools. It could've been Nova, but I think most on this board, myself included, respected Jay Wright too much to hate Nova.
 
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No true rivalries and interest now and it changes from year to year depending on how good we are vs. the teams we are playing. While not exactly a regional rival but close to it, Syracuse (where i just came back from visiting family today) were the games i think most UConn fans looked forward to the most compared to teams closer geographically like PC. BC, St. John’s. I know the BY likes to dump on Cuse, but those were often exciting games. Maybe PC or the Johnnies can become that rival.
 
cohenzone said:
No true rivalries and interest now and it changes from year to year depending on how good we are vs. the teams we are playing. While not exactly a regional rival but close to it, Syracuse (where i just came back from visiting family today) were the games i think most UConn fans looked forward to the most compared to teams closer geographically like PC. BC, St. John’s. I know the BY likes to dump on Cuse, but those were often exciting games. Maybe PC or the Johnnies can become that rival.
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My money is on St. Johns. You can feel something bubbling here. Pitino had Louisville become our 3rd biggest rival behind Cuse and Pitt. I can see St. Johns becoming our biggest rival in the Big East as long as he's there.
 
I wish we would do some home and home series with Syracuse to bring that back some. I remember it being a huge win for Hurley when he got here his first year with Jalen Adams that was exciting.

It was one of the best rivalries in cbb that kind of just went by the wayside.
 
The answer is none. We don't have a rival.

Nova had a shot until Wright left. Closest option right now is Creighton. There's an opportunity for St John's down the road if Pitino can get them nationally relevant again.
 
TheRealKBuks said:
I can't call PC "the" rival even though I want to. The geography would make them the best candidate but they don't win anything. The fact that we're their super bowl every year but they're just an annoying gnat to us disqualifies them. I don't think any of us hate PC, but we all hated Syracuse. I hate playing PC but that's because they play a scrub style of ball. Until our fans start viscerally hating them I can't consider them our biggest rival, but I truly hope that changes.

UConn fans and Creighton fans got into it a few years ago after we lost to them in the BET. They're already a bigger rival.
Expand ...

I think plenty of us hate PC. Their fans are as obnoxious as Cuse fans. If Bryce Hopkins didn't get injured I think they would have been up there in the top half of BE teams.
 
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There is a big difference between being good at the same time we are good and being a rival. I mean Creighton? Someone actually voted for them? LOL! If that were the case we’d be rivals with Kentucky and Purdue. We probably have played them almost as many times as Creighton. I think rivalries need certain things including length of the series, close games, upsets , memorable games, controversial wins and losses. And something else which can vary. Xavier and Cincinnati and Duke-UNC can practically see each other’s campus from their own. Michigan and Ohio State it is about history and tradition. You can’t “make” a game a rivalry. When they joined the ACC, some marketing whiz thought BC and Clemson would be great rivals. LOL! Michigan State-Penn State is allegedly a huge rivalry. Though neither school is very invested in it. Williams-Amherst is one. Wesleyan is in the Little 3 but is definitely the 3rd wheel. The final element, and in many ways the critical one, is your fans need to care, regardless of whether one, both or neither team is good. If you can’t say losing to XYZ would ruin our season regardless of how we did otherwise. XYZ ain’t your rival. Nobody in the NEWBIE fits that standard.

One last thing. A rivalry doesn’t stop because 1 team is good and 1 is bad. Nobody cares about Providence or St John’s or Creighton if they are bad.
 
Last edited:
Palatine said:
In the 50s and 60s -- URI

In the 70s - UMess

In the 80s - BCU

In the 90s - UMess

In the 00s - Syracuse 9 (small nod to Pitt)

Currently - None.
Expand ...

Not sure about your 90s analysis. I was at UCONN for the majority of the 90s (5 year plan plus...) and I don't remember us playing UMass.
 
BlueandOG said:
Not sure about your 90s analysis. I was at UCONN for the majority of the 90s (5 year plan plus...) and I don't remember us playing UMass.
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We were rivals without playing each other for a while, especially in 96 when we were both 1 seeds. The next year we started playing every season.
 
RichCTBB said:
Marquette and Creighton are the only programs that in the Big East that have won consistently and have a strong foundation to their programs. They are the ones whom I feel are the biggest threats to achieving our goals. Xavier would be up there this year if not for the injuries. I don't see anyone else proving themselves to be threats in March at this point. I'm not even confident that Pitino will get it going at St. Johns. He's old, old school, and I can't imagine him being able to build a winning culture at the High D1 level in the NIL/portal era. All of the other coaches haven't proven anything yet. I think Butler will be closer to the top before St. Johns. If Kim English can elevate recruiting, maybe he has a chance to surpass what Cooley accomplished. If Seton Hall can get their NIL program straightened out they might have a chance with Holloway. I'm not worried about Georgetown. I'd be surprised if Cooley has the fortitude and patience to build Georgetown back up. Like Pitino, I'm not sure that he has the charisma to capture the hearts and minds of his players, especially after the whole Divine Providence debacle. His actions and words have generated a lot of possible negative recruiting material. Neptune seems to be going down, possibly in flames. And then DePaul doesn't even deserve a seat at the table at this point.
Expand ...
Umm Nova.
 
None of them. If I had to choose one, maybe MU but that will end when Kolek and those kids leave. They all want to be rivals with UCONN to raise their status and ride UCONN's coattails. It's sad.

In terms of a rivalry with fans, PC because they're absolute trash. What they did to Andrea is unforgivable. I hope we make them question their existence like we did to Xavier
 
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