Big Ten Football: Ranking the Conference's Best Rivalries
When it comes to rivalries in the Big Ten, the annual battle between Michigan and Ohio State gets the lion's share of the attention, and for good reason. But the conference is full of great rivalries, and with the Big Ten's recent re-emergence as a college football power, these rivalries are beginning to have an impact beyond bragging rights.
What makes a great rivalry? First and foremost, there has to be a pretty powerful emotional component. The reason why a game between Penn State and Minnesota for the Governor's Victory Bell doesn't gain a ton of attention isn't just based on yearly win-loss records; the distant foes don't have a long, shared history and there's no impassioned run-up to each meeting.
Trophies are another factor in determining great rivalries. While certainly not a must (see Michigan-Ohio State), an interesting or historical trophy can take an otherwise mid-level regular-season showdown and transform it into a noteworthy showdown.
Finally, all of the best rivalries usually have consequences for both the winner and loser, beyond the simple bragging rights that come along with any victory. The game between Michigan and Ohio State reached its current lofty spot not simply because of the two programs' dislike for one another, but because that game at the end of the season has historically had a major bearing on Big Ten and even national championship aspirations for one or both teams.
So which Big Ten rivalry games will join Michigan-Ohio State on our list of the conference's best rivalries? Let's find out.
5. Maryland-Penn State
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At first glance, a lopsided series that just picked up after a 20-year hiatus doesn't seem like a likely candidate for a list of top rivalries. But despite Penn State leading its series with Maryland by a 35-2-1 margin, the 2014 renewal of this series was so great, we're giving it a spot on our list with high hopes for the future.
Maryland defeated Penn State in the renewal of the series in 2014 thanks to a field goal in the final minutes of the game. It was Maryland's first-ever win in State College and only the Terps' second win ever against the Nittany Lions.
The game also showed its emotional side before the opening kickoff, when a scuffle broke out that eventually led to the suspension of Maryland's Stefon Diggs for one game. That was followed up by the Maryland captains refusing to shake hands with their Penn State counterparts during the coin toss. Maryland's athletic department apologized as was fined $10,000 by the Big Ten.
This is one East Division game you'll want to watch in 2015.
4. Iowa-Minnesota
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The annual battle between Minnesota and Iowa is one of the nation's oldest rivalries, dating to 1891. In the 108 meetings between the two schools, Minnesota has won 62 with Iowa winning 44 (there has been a pair of ties).
This particular rivalry has some interesting social history to it. In the 1930s, Iowa running back Ozzie Simmons was a standout player for the Hawkeyes and one of the few black players of his era. During the 1934 game, Minnesota players were accused of some particularly rough play involving Simmons.
The following year, the governor of Iowa, Clyde Herring, told the press that if the officials stood for any rough play targeting Simmons, Iowa fans in the stands would not. The Minnesota football delegation took this as a threat and the Iowa governor was accused of inciting a possible riot by the attorney general of Minnesota. Governor Floyd Olson of Minnesota calmed things a bit by wagering a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog with Governor Herring.
The 1935 game concluded without any of the rough play from the year before, and after Minnesota's victory, Governor Herring himself walked a prize hog from Iowa's Rosedale Farms—which he had named Floyd in honor of Governor Olson—on a leash right into Governor Olson's office.
Governor Olson commissioned a 98-pound bronze statue depicting Floyd of Rosedale, and the two programs have been playing for the bronze hog ever sense.
Social issues aside, the future of this rivalry looks bright. Both Iowa and Minnesota figure to be major players in the West Division for the foreseeable future. If either the Hawkeyes or Gophers hope to win a division title, the annual fight for Floyd or Rosedale is a must-win.
3. Minnesota-Wisconsin
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The Big Ten is home to the longest rivalry in FBS history. The two programs first met in 1890, and with the exception of 1906, have played every year since.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have combined for 32 Big Ten titles over the years, and while Wisconsin has won the previous 11 meetings between the two teams, Minnesota still leads the all-time series, 59-57-8.
Prior to World War II, the Badgers and Golden Gophers met for the "Slab of Bacon," a wooden trophy with an "M/W" carved in the middle (the letter depending on which way the trophy was hung). The trophy was lost during the war, and Paul Bunyan's Axe was introduced in 1948 as a replacement trophy.
With both programs in the West Division, the game has resumed its traditional billing as the regular-season finale for both teams.
History alone makes this game important, but add in Minnesota's recent resurgence—just in time, perhaps, to stave off Wisconsin taking its first-ever lead in the near-ancient series—and it gives the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe new life in the battle for the Big Ten's West Division title.
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2. Michigan-Michigan State
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There was a time when the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy between Michigan and Michigan State was just another ho-hum in-state battle between a football power and the "other" guys. Or, as former Wolverine Mike Hart put it, Michigan's "little brother."
Hart wasn't all wrong in his assessment. He stated that MSU thought of itself as Michigan's little brother, so why shouldn't the Wolverines feel the same way?
Michigan State may have had an inferiority complex in those days, and trailing the all-time series (at that point in 2007) 67-29-5, it's probably understandable. Michigan's wins over MSU were victories that never really raised an eyebrow, yet when the Spartans emerged victorious, people noticed.
Times, as they so often do, have changed. MSU head coach Mark Dantonio responded by saying "pride comes before the fall." Prophetic words, Coach. Since those fateful comments by Hart, MSU is 6-1 against arch nemesis Michigan. Michigan's lone win during that span was a 12-10 victory by a ranked Wolverines squad hosting an unranked Spartans team. On the flip side, MSU has defeated a ranked Michigan team four times over that same span, with the Spartans themselves ranked in three of those meetings.
Michigan State's recent resurgence in the series had added to a rivalry that has taken on new meaning since the conference split into divisions. With both programs occupying a spot in the same division, implications for the usual October showdown are higher than ever for both teams.
Whether or not Michigan State will ever be able to get over that "little brother" comment, however, is another story completely. The Spartan nation has guilelessly taken to calling Michigan "little sister."
What's a rivalry without a little unadroit name-calling?
1. Michigan-Ohio State
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No surprise here.
The annual grudge match between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes has become not merely the greatest rivalry in the Big Ten, but perhaps the greatest sports rivalry of any kind. Sure, baseball has its Yankees and Red Sox, the NHL has the Bruins and Canadiens, the NBA its Celtics-Lakers, and some even claim that college basketball's Duke-UNC rivalry is the best (Buzzfeed called the 79 percent of fans who participated in an ESPN poll that did not vote for Duke-UNC "misguided dummies").
But the Michigan-Ohio State showdown has a couple of things those rivalries don't: frequent championship implications (Michigan and Ohio State have combined for 77 Big Ten titles and 19 national championships) and 12 months of anticipation between each and every meeting.
Sure, Duke-UNC is nice and all, but those teams meet at least twice each and every year. The Yankees and Red Sox will meet 19 times in the 2015 regular season. When was the last time the Montreal Canadiens won a Stanley Cup? For the record, it was 1993.
So what about Alabama-Auburn? Okay, so the Iron Bowl has had some of its rust knocked off over the past several years. But despite some great finishes and some unquestionably important meetings, the Iron Bowl doesn't have the history of Michigan-Ohio State.
Alabama and Auburn have met just 79 times to 111 for the Wolverines and Buckeyes. The Iron Bowl also results in a pleasant, cordial trophy presentation that takes place the following winter at a basketball game on the campus of the winning school, where the losers present the winners with a trophy and then sing the winning school's fight song.
Can you imagine anyone from Ohio State showing up in Ann Arbor to present a trophy and sing "The Victors"? We can't.
Michigan-Ohio State stands alone among rivalries in the Big Ten, and there's clearly a pretty solid case to be made that it's the greatest rivalry not only in all of college football, but all of sport.
Follow Bleacher Report National College Football Featured Columnist David Luther on Twitter.
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