Rivalry?

UNTJarhead0802 · September 3, 2011

Obviously, one of the best parts of college football is a heated rivalry. However, given the fact that we have not been successful in recent years and a complete lack of regional in-state, conference opponents, it appears that we do not possess one. I know for a fact that we hate SMU, but they seem to pay no attention to us. Granted, Matt Simon tried to create a rivalry between us and SMU (the Safeway Bowl, as it's been titled based on his comment "if they want to play in a Safeway parking lot, name the time and date and we'll be there), but it never came to fruition. MTSU and Arkansas State was there for a while, as well as the NMSU game (our half-assed attempt to bring down the goal posts was the last undergrad game I went to) were fun. But, has it all gone wry simply because of our feeble teams lately?

What is it going to take to get a team that we hate to hate us and vice versa? I feel like we're getting the shaft in this all important aspect. In the mid 2000's, it seemed like decent competition between us and TCU were developing, but obviously that has gone since TCU has become not just a regional power in a mid-major to a BCS bowl champion. I think that there's a lot of interesting sub-plots with the SMU game. The rich kid school that trust funds built vs what is predominantly a working class school, two teams with marked previous success now suffering from inferiority complexes in a football crazed state and area, and a number of other factors. However, the last thing I want is what I dub "Maryland syndrome", where we develop a rabid, deep seeded hatred for a team that in the grand scheme of things that couldn't care less about our program (Duke repeated chants "You're not our rival" during Duke/Maryland games).

SMU and TCU are obviously the preeminent game in the region and SMU also has the Rice game (the Mayor's cup). Just thoughts that popped into my head while I'm doing artillery homework on a four day weekend.

Thoughts?

UNTJarhead0802 · September 3, 2011

Obviously, one of the best parts of college football is a heated rivalry. However, given the fact that we have not been successful in recent years and a complete lack of regional in-state, conference opponents, it appears that we do not possess one. I know for a fact that we hate SMU, but they seem to pay no attention to us. Granted, Matt Simon tried to create a rivalry between us and SMU (the Safeway Bowl, as it's been titled based on his comment "if they want to play in a Safeway parking lot, name the time and date and we'll be there), but it never came to fruition. MTSU and Arkansas State was there for a while, as well as the NMSU game (our half-assed attempt to bring down the goal posts was the last undergrad game I went to) were fun. But, has it all gone wry simply because of our feeble teams lately?
What is it going to take to get a team that we hate to hate us and vice versa? I feel like we're getting the shaft in this all important aspect. In the mid 2000's, it seemed like decent competition between us and TCU were developing, but obviously that has gone since TCU has become not just a regional power in a mid-major to a BCS bowl champion. I think that there's a lot of interesting sub-plots with the SMU game. The rich kid school that trust funds built vs what is predominantly a working class school, two teams with marked previous success now suffering from inferiority complexes in a football crazed state and area, and a number of other factors. However, the last thing I want is what I dub "Maryland syndrome", where we develop a rabid, deep seeded hatred for a team that in the grand scheme of things that couldn't care less about our program (Duke repeated chants "You're not our rival" during Duke/Maryland games).

SMU and TCU are obviously the preeminent game in the region and SMU also has the Rice game (the Mayor's cup). Just thoughts that popped into my head while I'm doing artillery homework on a four day weekend.

Thoughts?

Apologies for improper grammar, I just caught that.