Sports

4 of the greatest rivalries in NCAA Division I soccer history

What would college football be without rivalries? Rivalries can make regular season games look like playoff games. Fighting another school across the state line or within the state may be the biggest game of the season. The players get excited. The players get excited. The community is excited! Here are some of the most notable rivalries in NCAA soccer:

1. Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles

These two teams have been fighting in their intrastate rivalry since 1958. Florida leads the series, 31-19-2. People sometimes refer to this competition as the “Sunshine Showdown” (referring to Florida’s nickname as the Sunshine State) or the “Governor’s Cup.” In addition to the excitement of the game, one or both school football teams have had high national rankings the week of their reunion, since 1990. In fact, since Bobby Bowden began coaching Florida State in 1976, the series has been practically stagnant. .

2. UCLA Bruins and USC Trojan

How intense is the intrastate rivalry between UCLA and USC? It even has a name. The Lexus Gauntlet refers to the competition between USC and UCLA, which involves head-to-head competition in 18 college sports. Both universities have participatory events during the week prior to the clash of the two soccer teams. USC refers to the week as “Conquest” or “Trojan Week.” On the other hand, UCLA calls that week “Beat SC Week” (the less combative official title is “Blue and Gold Week”).

By the way, what exactly are Bruins and Trojans? A Bruin is a huge and ferocious bear in Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, the Trojans were citizens of Troy, an ancient city in present-day Turkey.

3. Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies

This rivalry is as big as the state of Texas. The teams’ soccer teams fight each other annually the day after Thanksgiving. Teams do this to give the rivalry a national spotlight. Here are some interesting tidbits about the rivalry:

o Started in 1900, the team rivalry is the third longest in college football.

o Activities like “Hex Rally” from Texas and “Aggie Bonfire” from Texas A&M precede the game.

o The Aggies “honor” Texas in their fight song “Aggie War Hymn”, while the Longhorns wish their rivals a “goodbye” in their fight song “Texas Fight.”

4. Western Michigan Broncos and Central Michigan Chippewas

The Broncos were actually Hilltoppers. That was referring to his East Hall located atop Prospect Hill. However, in 1939 Western Michigan changed the name of its athletic teams to Broncos. At that time, other Hilltoppers existed, such as Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Meanwhile, the Chippewas or “Chips” represent Central Michigan University. The team represents the Native American Saginaw Chippewa tribe, who live in the region. Ironically, while the university maintains a constructive relationship with American Indians, in 2005 the NCAA included the name “Chippewas” on its list of “hostile” or “abusive” nicknames. However, Central Michigan successfully appealed the sentence.

Rivalries are essential to the excitement of NCAA football. Regardless of which team you cheer on, wear NCAA merchandise to show your support!