10 Sports Rivalries That Should Exist
Rivalries make for some of the most compelling stories in sports.
We like to believe athletes don't like each other in certain instances. These real emotions add intrigue to games, fights and other encounters. Barcelona versus Real Madrid, the Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox and Tottenham Hotspur versus Arsenal are several examples of some top rivalries in the sports world today.
A plethora of new rivalries along with some from days gone by could spark interest in certain matchups.
Pittsburgh and Cleveland are natural rivals even if their football teams usually head in different directions as it pertains to records and achievements. Perhaps the Pittsburgh Pirates playing the Cleveland Indians each year could renew a competitive spirit among fans in those cities. Conor McGregor fighting Jose Aldo may be best for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and for those two competitors. We already miss the tradition of Michigan facing Notre Dame on a fall Saturday.
Rivalries often draw fans to venues, and they pop in the TV ratings. There is no reason to believe casual fans will stop paying attention to rivalries anytime soon.
What rivalries that currently don't exist do you want to see in the future?
University of Southern California vs. South Carolina (Everything)
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We start with a fun idea, one admittedly stolen from a Reddit user.
The University of Southern California and South Carolina share no known animosities. The schools are positioned on opposite coasts of the country. Southern Cal supporters wouldn't think to name South Carolina as a rival, and South Carolina fans probably couldn't tell you the last time the two schools met on a football field.
But the universities were once rivals off the field of play. As Matt Hinton of Yahoo Sports reported in 2010, Southern Cal won a court battle versus South Carolina over the use of the letters "SC" as a trademark.
That's ridiculous. Sports should be about the best overall teams winning such victories. USC versus USC should play out in competitions each year.
Don't just leave it to football or basketball. Let's have Southern Cal and South Carolina face off in every sport possible. The overall winner of those games, tournaments and events earns the right to the USC name for that year.
It's a way to get casual fans to care about a rivalry they would otherwise ignore.
Cleveland Indians vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers used to have arguably the best rivalry in all the NFL (and even further back, the AFL). Those two clubs, a short drive away from each other, consistently competed for playoff spots and division titles throughout the '70s and '80s. They played each other for the first time in 1950, when the Browns were football's dominant team. Those who never experienced the rivalry at its peak missed out on some enjoyable times.
Those days are well into the past. This rivalry disappeared because the Browns are now a laughingstock. Cleveland hasn't posted a winning record since 2007, and the Browns have played in a single playoff game since returning to the NFL in 1999. The Steelers, meanwhile, moved on, and Pittsburgh's biggest rival is now the Baltimore Ravens.
We hope the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates can resume a sports rivalry between the two cities.
Cleveland and Pittsburgh can't play each other in pro hockey or pro basketball. Major League Baseball is the only hope for a sports rivalry between the two cities. Now that interleague play happens every week of the season, MLB officials could easily schedule the Tribe and Buccos to face off each year.
There's money to be made here if the league handles business properly. The Indians playing against the Pirates during a weekend series would draw thousands upon thousands of fans to either city, and the victor of a seven-game season series would earn bragging rights for that year.
Make Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh great again, MLB.
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys
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The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys are the two most successful franchises in the history of the NFL since the start of the Super Bowl era. Pittsburgh owns six Super Bowl trophies, the Cowboys five.
Success is not all that links these two great organizations. The Steelers and Cowboys have played each other in Super Bowl contests three times over the past 50 years. Pittsburgh won two of those contests, while the Cowboys defeated Pittsburgh in 1996.
Both franchises are popular all around the country, serving as two of the top traveling fanbases in all of the NFL. Pittsburgh fans would happily make the trek to AT&T Stadium in Dallas, and Cowboys diehards would flock to Heinz Field in Pennsylvania.
The Steelers should play the Cowboys once every NFL regular season. The games would draw millions of television viewers, and they would bring back memories of what some deem to be the golden years of pro football.
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Conor McGregor Versus Jose Aldo
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Jose Aldo supposedly wants to leave the UFC.
Per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Aldo is prepared to walk away from the UFC and from mixed martial arts because he feels the top fighting organization in the world has disrespected him on multiple occasions. It seems Conor McGregor, the featherweight champion, being given an opportunity to fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight strap at UFC 205 this coming November pushed Aldo over the edge.
There's an easy solution to this, and it's one that benefits two fighters and also fight fans.
McGregor and Aldo should be rivals who fight over the top spot in the featherweight division. McGregor defeated Aldo via knockout in 13 seconds in December 2015, but that one left-handed strike should not remove Aldo from the title picture. If anything, it should lead to Aldo and McGregor cutting promos leading up to a rematch. Aldo could claim McGregor's win was a fluke. McGregor could retort and point out he was clearly the better fighter.
The story writes itself.
The official UFC rankings list Aldo fifth on the list of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the organization. Aldo deserves an opportunity to earn millions of dollars and also to avenge his loss to McGregor. A potential rivalry between the two that includes at least one more fight is what's best for business for all involved.
Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
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This is admittedly a rivalry that is for the now and not necessarily for the future.
Creating a new rivalry in the NBA is difficult for multiple reasons. Most notably, the regular season is only so important. Sixteen teams make the playoffs every year. Stars like LeBron James take nights off throughout the winter months in the grueling campaign to remain fresh for postseason play.
The Golden State Warriors vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers could be a white-hot rivalry if the NBA handles the matter correctly.
Golden State and Cleveland faced off in the NBA finals in each of the past two years. The Golden State roster is filled with stars like league MVP Stephen Curry, former MVP Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Cleveland, meanwhile, features four-time MVP James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
While one of the season's first marquee games will be a finals rematch on Christmas, the NBA needs to capitalize on this rivalry while the opportunity exists and fix schedules so the two sides play each other at least three times every regular season. Maybe nothing will come of it long-term, but every game would register massive television ratings and be hugely entertaining.
Penn State Versus Pitt (Football)
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The football rivalry between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh Panthers never should have ended in the first place.
Penn State vs. Pitt was one of the most storied rivalries in college football for nearly a century. As Craig Meyer of the Morning Call pointed out in September, the two programs played each other every year between 1900 and 1992, minus 1932 through 1934. This annual college football tradition disappeared, however, after 2000.
The football teams no longer competing on the field did not stop students, alumni and fans from both schools from taunting the competition. Pitt fans routinely pointed out their favorite basketball program was superior to Penn State's. "Go State! Beat Pitt!" is an unofficial line in a Penn State fight song.
The rivalry resumed this season when Penn State traveled to play Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. Pitt won that entertaining contest 42-39. As of the fall of 2016, the two football teams are only scheduled to play each year up through 2019.
That's not enough. Every season should include Penn State vs. Pitt somewhere on the calendar. Both universities and communities want to see this rivalry live on past the end of this decade.
The NCAA needs to get this one right.
New York Mets vs. Boston Red Sox
7 of 10
New York sports fans hate Boston sports fans. Boston fans share those emotions. It's a hatred fueled by familiarity, proximity and the passion of both fanbases.
The rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox plays out on national television every season. Those clubs are two of the biggest franchises in all of North American pro sports, and they are also division rivals that play nearly 20 times each season.
But don't forget about the history between the Red Sox and New York Mets. The Red Sox and Mets are forever linked because of the famous, or infamous depending on your loyalties, Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson, the two star players of the final play of Game 6, are currently featuring in an advertising campaign that is running on MLB Network.
We still remember that game 30 years later.
Casual viewers don't care about the Mets playing against the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins or other AL teams. Likewise, the Boston Red Sox taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks probably won't move the needle. Mets vs. Red Sox is a natural rivalry that also happens to have an interesting backstory.
New York Giants vs. New York Jets
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The New York Giants and New York Jets play each other in meaningful games once every four seasons due to how the NFL creates schedules. Yes, the Giants and Jets face off every August in preseason contests, but the majority of fans who trek to MetLife Stadium for those encounters usually leave before the finish.
This, theoretically, is the easiest rivalry in the NFL to build.
The Giants and Jets share a stadium and city. It is, technically speaking, the only true intracity rivalry in the NFL (though that could change soon in Los Angeles). Neither team would need to travel for annual games.
It's perfect.
There's already an off-the-field history for this rivalry beyond preseason exhibitions and games that matter once every four years. You may remember the Jets covering Super Bowl logos painted at MetLife Stadium before the two teams met for a game in December 2011. As Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News wrote in February 2012, former Giants defensive end Justin Tuck took a shot at the Jets during a Super Bowl celebration.
"Last time we did this it was in Giants Stadium,” Tuck said. “Now we’re in MetLife Stadium. But one thing you can be sure of is whose house this is."
The NFL would need to move some games around to make this yearly rivalry a reality. That needs to happen as soon as possible. The Giants and Jets should play against each other every regular season moving forward.
Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg
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Stars and names, not championship bouts, sell fights and pay-per-view cards. Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and Brock Lesnar proved that this year.
Ronda Rousey is, at worst, one of the three biggest stars in the UFC today. Rousey has not fought since November 2015, when she lost her bantamweight championship to Holly Holm. Rousey's possible return to the cage has been a topic of speculation throughout 2016, but she is currently not scheduled to fight in the UFC this year.
Holm lost the title to Miesha Tate this past March. Tate, formerly Rousey's top rival, lost the strap at UFC 200. That leaves Cris "Cyborg" Justino as the only major fight left for Rousey in today's UFC.
As Brandon Wise of CBS Sports recently explained, Rousey and Cyborg have feuded through the media and via social media posts in the past. They've never fought, however, as Cyborg has yet to consistently compete at 135 pounds. Rousey, a champion in that weight class since 2012, had no desire to fight Cyborg at 145 pounds or any other weight.
The situation may now be different, however, since Rousey is no longer a champion.
Rousey vs. Cyborg at a catchweight would potentially be the biggest women's fight in MMA history, argues Wise. That one fight could spark a rivalry that leads to a series of encounters over the next couple of years.
Notre Dame vs. Michigan (Football)
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Despite what some may think, Michigan and Notre Dame did not play each other in college football every year in the past. It just felt like this rivalry was an annual tradition that played out on either NBC or ABC depending on which school was the home team that particular year.
Per GoBlue.com, Michigan has played Notre Dame only 42 times. Michigan currently holds the advantage in the rivalry with a record of 24-17-1. This well-known rivalry is currently on hiatus. Per Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports, this series will resume in 2018.
Those of us with no ties to those universities don't need to see Notre Dame play Nevada. Michigan vs. Central Florida doesn't lead to casual fans rushing to their couches to watch.
But Michigan vs. Notre Dame is arguably the most famous rivalry in college football for fans not connected with those universities. We see no reason why the Wolverines and Fighting Irish shouldn't play every season from now through eternity.
The gold helmets of Notre Dame shining in the sun contrasting with the famous maize and blue of Michigan is, to steal the phrase used by CBS announcer Jim Nantz, a college football tradition unlike any other. It's a rivalry that needs to resume for good before the end of the decade.
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