Whose our biggest rival? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Whose our biggest rival?

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1 Nova - we want to replace them as the elite team in the conference
2. Providence- closest conference rival and a long history
3. Syracuse- just a lot of great games and our fan bases really don’t like each other
 
OK, I'm going to be the outlier on the board on this, but really, that's not the first time.

Syracuse isn't on my list of despised. My brother went there ... and there's a more complex backstory that I'd rather not get into here. Suffice it to say that I have ties to the school. Plus, even though we lost, I was in MSG for the entire 6 OT game roller coaster ride and will remember it forever. Yes, I enjoy beating Syracuse, consider them a rival, but I don't hate 'em.

For me a rival has to be both a frequent opponent and on relatively equal footing. There isn't one currently other than 'Nova, with Creighton a close second given our record in those games. St. Johns and Providence bring up the rear - The Johnnies if they improve, Providence with more strong years than just one.
 
Still 'Cuse by a mile... Wish we had a home & home arrangement every 2 years, or every year at MSG.
 
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bendm said:
who?
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Dean Wormer said:
Syracuse, and it’s not even close.
The fruit will always be skulking around the corner, and every time we play them I want nothing more then to make like Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian- “ “crush my enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women”!
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only reason is because of MSG. not a rival to me. cuse/gtown has nothing to do with us. Our rival is/was anybody in the BE finals
 
The fact that its a legitimate question pretty much answers itself. (we don't really have one) Do you need to ask North Carolina fans who their biggest rivals are? Michigan or Michigan State fans?

A true rivalry requires a certain commonality, and/or geographic proximity. When you have two fan bases that frequently interact in their everyday lives, at work, in the neighborhood etc. you have a situation whereby having to hear about a loss, or getting to gloat about a win takes on a much more personal significance. Thrill of victory and agony of defeat all of a sudden become very real because you know you're going to hear about it from your obnoxious neighbor or that moron on the loading dock.

As a state with only one major university, and all of the other similar nearby state universities for one reason or another not competitive, we're pretty much going to have to be resigned to half hearted and shifting rivalries depending on recent win loss history.

Would say for now Providence is the best natural fit. If they can stay competitive it could really get some traction.
 
We don't have one. Syracuse is the new Pitt or Miami -- former rivals.
 
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It's Syracuse. Though the on court rivalry will fade as the years pass. Other teams at certain times have been rival 1B at points but nothing comes close

I can't imagine anyone under 40 actually considering Providence a rival given they've stink for the majority of those years and we didn't even play in the same league for nearly a decade. It feels very forced.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
It's Syracuse. Though the on court rivalry will fade as the years pass. Other teams at certain times have been rival 1B at points but nothing comes close

I can't imagine anyone under 40 actually considering Providence a rival given they've stink for the majority of those years and we didn't even play in the same league for nearly a decade. It feels very forced.
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I remember JC was asked the same question once and said pretty much the same thing, without actually saying it.
We haven’t played them regularly any more, but ask me who gets me hot and bothered between PC and Cuse? We haven’t had any meaningful games with PC, mostly because they’ve sucked. At our worst, we still didn’t care much about lil brother. Maybe that changes at some point, who knows?
Losing to PC is annoying, like being picked at by a mosquito. Losing to Cuse raises my blood pressure and increases the risk of stroke.
 
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The duality of the yard never ceases to amaze me
 
Lot of people saying Creighton, definitely think providence is higher up than them. Nova the defacto #1, but with Corey Floyd switching to providence, the location being driving distance, and Jay Wright retiring, I could see Providence taking the top spot over the next few years. Creighton has our number, yeah, but that's not what makes a rivalry. Providence visiting the XL center was a vicious environment. I dont know the last time ive seen the XL center that collectively drunk. Providence posters are throughout the boneyard, there's threads on here that have turned into analyzing providence recruiting. Twitter was riddled with UConn fans calling Providence phony all season after their escapes over depaul and other bottom dwellers. Creighton may be the better team, or the team UConn needs a win over more despearatley right now, but when it comes to actual animosity, bad blood, butting heads, Providence is def the #2 big east rival right now, if not top dog.
 
Syracuse wouldn't choose us, so how could we choose them?
We don't have a top rival, and it's fine
 
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Hatred wise its Cuse and Duke with PC getting close
NBE - it's Nova but let's see what happens sans Jay W- I have a lot of respect for McDermott so I can't say Creighton. I would love it to be Gtown, hoping Pat brings them back. With that slimeball coaching at Xavier, that makes me despise that team - no rivalry but out of mind
 
Drytortugas said:
Kids in school now haven’t seen a UConn-Syracuse game, have they?
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If they haven't seen that classic OT game, they haven't been watching any TV
It was nerve shaking enough being there!
 
MrSec224 said:
Nova for sure. Creighton is budding due to how much we suck against them and PC wants us to be their rival REALLY bad but until they have any sort of sustained success they are just the closest opponent.
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Syracuse is definitely historically the biggest rival (95 lifetime games where Syracuse led 56-39, but UConn 30-26 since 1988). 6 OT game, epic other games, hatred between fan bases, but haven’t played in 4 years and won’t likely play again going forward very often.

Nova easy #1 rival now (4 vs 2 Natty’s, 30-26 récord since 1988). We were the beast of old BE, they have been beast of new BE. Many Nova alum living in CT.

The many who are saying Creighton must be drunk. They have one Sweet 16 since 1974 and it was the Covid year in the bubble, which had a major asterisk IMHO. They have one Elite 8 (1941) and no Final Four appearances. We are 0-5 against them. How is that a rivalry?

Providence is obvious #2 now. We’ve played them 48 times since 1988 (lead 29-19) and have played them 68 times all time (lead 39-29). The schools are an hour away from each other and PC has a huge number of CT alums. The fan bases hate each other and taunt each other on social media. It is a beautiful thing!
 
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Beowulf said:
this is the perfect chance for uconn to just embrace providence as a rival. i'm not sure why we are high-roading them
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Exactly. Theyve been competitive for a few years now and won the conference last season. They’ve earned it.
 
Beowulf said:
this is the perfect chance for uconn to just embrace providence as a rival. i'm not sure why we are high-roading them
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And I’m not sure why we are elevating them. What’s the basis of the rivalry? Surely not there coveted six NCAA tournament games since Ed Cooley became coach back in 2011. They did have a good year this season, but they caught some major breaks by not having to play the best teams in the league do you to Covid shut downs. I don’t fault them for that, but it certainly doesn’t elevate them much in my opinion.

If we played Syracuse every season, that would be more of a classic rivalry, because as others have stated, the fan bases really don’t like each other. Or maybe it’s just The Boneyard and syracuse fam.com that don’t like each other. I always get along with Syracuse fans when we’ve played it MSG. Yeah there is a lot of good-natured give-and-take, but it is good-natured.

Providence college? In all honesty, I think it’s of UMass as more of a rival. Perhaps even URI. Pc just doesn’t move the needle for me.
 
huskyfever said:
Syracuse is definitely historically the biggest rival (95 lifetime games where Syracuse led 56-39, but UConn 30-26 since 1988). 6 OT game, epic other games, hatred between fan bases, but haven’t played in 4 years and won’t likely play again going forward very often.

Nova easy #1 rival now (4 vs 2 Natty’s, 30-26 récord since 1988). We were the beast of old BE, they have been beast of new BE. Many Nova alum living in CT.

The many who are saying Creighton must be drunk. They have one Sweet 16 since 1974 and it was the Covid year in the bubble, which had a major asterisk IMHO. They have one Elite 8 (1941) and no Final Four appearances. We are 0-5 against them. How is that a rivalry?

Providence is obvious #2 now. We’ve played them 48 times since 1988 (lead 29-19) and have played them 68 times all time (lead 39-29). The schools are an hour away from each other and PC has a huge number of CT alums. The fan bases hate each other and taunt each other on social media. It is a beautiful thing!
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Being 0-5 against them certainly makes them to be a circled date on our calendar when the schedule comes out. In a conference where we really only have any sort of recent history with Nova, its safe to say Creighton is someone we probably want to beat this coming season as much as anyone.
 
Syracuse easily number 1 rival

Nova is 2nd due to their dominant success lately and Big East

Pitt is number 3 historically. If they had remained in the Big East and Jamie Dixon was still their coach, Pitt would probably be ahead of Nova.

Our problem is that 2 of our main rivals left for the ACC.

PS: Providence doesn’t even register as a rival
 
CL82 said:
And I’m not sure why we are elevating them. What’s the basis of the rivalry? Surely not there coveted six NCAA tournament games since Ed Cooley became coach back in 2011. They did have a good year this season, but they caught some major breaks by not having to play the best teams in the league do you to Covid shut downs. I don’t fault them for that, but it certainly doesn’t elevate them much in my opinion.

If we played Syracuse every season, that would be more of a classic rivalry, because as others have stated, the fan bases really don’t like each other. Or maybe it’s just The Boneyard and syracuse fam.com that don’t like each other. I always get along with Syracuse fans when we’ve played it MSG. Yeah there is a lot of good-natured give-and-take, but it is good-natured.

Providence college? In all honesty, I think it’s of UMass as more of a rival. Perhaps even URI. Pc just doesn’t move the needle for me.
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I don’t disagree, Nova is our rival and has been since 2013-14. Had many great games. We haven’t even played you guys in front of our fans in almost a decade. No big deal.
 
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