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Best D-I Rivalries

ARM

ARM

Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Over the last decade plus, UMD and Minnesota have been one of the biggest rivalries in Division I, when game importance, fan interest, player motivation, and quality of the outcome are considered. As these two head into their 55th and 56th meetings over the last dozen years, what are some of the other top rivalries on the women's scene?

Some of the best rivalries of recent history seem down a bit this year, as tradional power are struggling. UNH's slump takes a little luster off of the tilts with PC. Neither Harvard nor Dartmouth are at the level they once enjoyed, nor are neighbors Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

On the other hand, BC and BU looks to be the best it has ever been on the women's side, and new clashes like UMD and UND appear ready to blossom.

What are some of your favorite conference or inter-league rivals?
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

Great question!

Sadly for OSU, the most honest answer is that we're in need of an arch-rival. For several seasons, we had a nice in-state rivalry with Findlay. There was even a traveling trophy. We had a good lead in the series, but they won the last game. So as far as I know, they still possess the trophy. But unless the Oilers return to D-I, that rivalry is on permanent hold.:(

What OSU really needs, of course, is for Michigan or Michigan State to upgrade to D-1. My understanding is that this unlikely anytime soon. But I'm certainly willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Naturally the big picture isn't bleak. In conference, ALL the games are good.:) There just isn't one series that stands head and shoulders above the others.

I will say that for the casual fans, match-ups against the Gophers and Badgers are the most attractive because of the Big ten tie. Fans with just a little more information are also aware of UMD's achievements. And yet for the afficionado, the team(s) we're closely battling with for position in the standings may hold the greatest excitement. But because that has rotated between St. Cloud, Mankato & Bemidji, no particular match-up has been all-important, year-in and a year-out.

Just one fan's opinion, of course.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

ARM said:
Penn State perhaps?
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Could be. There's definite potential there.

Obviously a rivalry would take a while to percoloate. PSU's choice of conference matters. If they join the Women's WCHA and the teams play 4 times a year, I'd say it's almost a lock. If it's an annual non-conference series, meaning two games each year, it's still likely. If the match-up is anything less than an annual event, the potential will be unrealized.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

ARM said:
Over the last decade plus, UMD and Minnesota have been one of the biggest rivalries in Division I, when game importance, fan interest, player motivation, and quality of the outcome are considered. As these two head into their 55th and 56th meetings over the last dozen years, what are some of the other top rivalries on the women's scene?

Some of the best rivalries of recent history seem down a bit this year, as tradional power are struggling. UNH's slump takes a little luster off of the tilts with PC. Neither Harvard nor Dartmouth are at the level they once enjoyed, nor are neighbors Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

On the other hand, BC and BU looks to be the best it has ever been on the women's side, and new clashes like UMD and UND appear ready to blossom.

What are some of your favorite conference or inter-league rivals?
Click to expand...

UNH and either Providence or Northeastern have always been considered longstanding rivals, dating back to each program's first years and the EAIAW (Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) Although each team has had it's share of ups and downs since first squaring off, circa 1977, the sentiment and the rivalry have always made the games intense and the victories sweet.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

DC78-82 said:
UNH and either Providence or Northeastern have always been considered longstanding rivals...
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We don't tend to hear as much about the NU/UNH rivalry, other than that it goes way back, maybe because we don't have the long-tenured fans here for the Huskies. Are there classic New Hampshire/Northeastern games that stand out in your mind?
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

It doesnt get any better than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. The ladies are definetly a lot more polite to each other than the men are, but there is nothing these 2 schools like more than beating each other.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

GoBucky36 said:
It doesnt get any better than Wisconsin vs Minnesota. The ladies are definetly a lot more polite to each other than the men are, but there is nothing these 2 schools like more than beating each other.
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Yep, they don't call 'em "Border Battles" for nothing!
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

ARM said:
Some of the best rivalries of recent history seem down a bit this year, as tradional power are struggling. UNH's slump takes a little luster off of the tilts with PC.
Click to expand...

Could someone please tell UNH the rivalry is over?!? That way we won't have to work so hard for the win! :eek:

Seriously, tonight was a great example of the definition of the rivalry. Regardless of their records, both teams got up to play the game and whenever they meet, you know it is going to be a good, tough game.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

I effing HATE UMD.

Thanks Tony! Saved me some keystrokes.
 
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Re: Best D-I Rivalries

I'd put Wisconsin/UMD & Wisconsin/Minnesota right up there with the best. Especially since it's those three programs that have literally won all the national titles.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

pgb-ohio said:
Could be. There's definite potential there.

Obviously a rivalry would take a while to percoloate. PSU's choice of conference matters. If they join the Women's WCHA and the teams play 4 times a year, I'd say it's almost a lock. If it's an annual non-conference series, meaning two games each year, it's still likely. If the match-up is anything less than an annual event, the potential will be unrealized.
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MICZamboni said:
It could be Mercyhurst but you refuse to play us.
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Are you calling the shots there in Columbus pgb-ohio? :)
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

As far as OSU is concerned, they've have some pretty good battles the last several years with Minnesota State. It may not be a rivalry in the truest sense, but it's awfully close.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

Those of us in Connecticut would think any game with Quinnipiac-Yale-UConn would qualify for for excellent rivalry games
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

There must be some great Ivy Rivalries.....

Harvard vs Brown in the olden days, and more recently Harvard vs Darthmouth...even further back Cornell and Brown are two of the teams that started up back in the early 70's.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

brookyone said:
Are you calling the shots there in Columbus pgb-ohio? :)
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Flattery will get you a lot of places, but nothing you say will give me any any influence over the schedule.:D

That said, MICZamboni's comment piqued my curiousity, so I did some digging around in our Media Guide. Yes, media guides are still available. But these days you usually have to access them on-line.

Anyhow, as I thought I recalled, we have played Mercyhurst. We hosted a game in January of 2003; and traveled to Erie in January of 2004. Now that I've taken a look, I'd say we're due for another series. But I can truthfully say it never once occurred to me that we were "dodging Mercyhurst." I suppose that's big school arrogance.:eek::o:p;)

Regardless, we certainly haven't been dodging the CHA. This season we've played Robert Morris, Syracuse & Wayne State. Over the years we've played Niagara 8 times.

One factor to take into account is that starting in 2004-05, we've played North Dakota four times a season. That conference match-up reduced the number of games available for non-conference play by 40%. This factor likely accounts for some of the "delay."

Perhaps the ultimate question on this subject is why didn't Mercyhurst take Findlay's place as our Non-Conference BFF. (Findlay left the D-1 scene at the end of the 2003-04 season.) While that might have been a nice arrangement, I don't think it was the only reasonable option. For one thing WSU & RMU are also border battles. Either could have been a good choice for BFF. Instead, we've chosen to spread around the six nc games per season that are currently available. Again, I don't have inside knowledge of the thinking on that. But spreading it around also strikes me as an entirely reasonable option.
 
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Re: Best D-I Rivalries

CrazyDave said:
As far as OSU is concerned, they've have some pretty good battles the last several years with Minnesota State. It may not be a rivalry in the truest sense, but it's awfully close.
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There's some truth to that. The two biggest home crowds in program history were for games with the Mavs. For some time the games have indeed been among the most important on the schedule. Also, I'm very pleased to report that it's been years since I've heard anyone from Columbus say "man-CAUGHT-o.":D

Still, it should be remembered that for a number of seasons earlier on, St. Cloud was our rival in this sense. When two evenly matched teams are battling for position in the standings, the games tend to get circled on the calendar. But in the most intense rivalries, the standings don't really matter. Only time will tell if the Buckeye/Maverick rivalry meets the more stringent test.
 
Re: Best D-I Rivalries

pgb-ohio said:
Anyhow, as I thought I recalled, we have played Mercyhurst. We hosted a game in January of 2003; and traveled to Erie in January of 2004. Now that I've taken a look, I'd say we're due for another series. But I can truthfully say it never once occurred to me that we were "dodging Mercyhurst."
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From a competition aspect, I don't think it makes sense for Ohio State to play Mercyhurst. Outside of the one-time blip last year with the Badgers, UMD, UM, and UW are top-ten teams every year. Now it looks like North Dakota will be as well. That means 16 conference games against top-ten opponents for the Buckeyes each season. That's already a top-heavy regular season schedule w/o adding two games with Mercyhurst to it. The Lakers wouldn't do the OSU RPI ranking much good, because they are a strong team (meaning hard to beat) that plays a weak schedule (meaning it waters down the "Opponents' Opponents' Winning %" column.) I think a team like Ohio State that has at least a theoretical chance at qualifying each season as an at large team would be better off scheduling teams like Providence or Northeastern, that OSU a chance to sweep if the Buckeyes have a great season, but play in a conference that includes some strong opponents. It matters less to teams like SCSU and BSU that aren't likely to make the NCAAs w/o winning the WCHA tournament.
 
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