The Official 'Is Rutgers a rival?' thread

[chakka3421]

We are a rival to no one until we start winning again.

Pitt has beaten us 9 out of 10 times in last 10 years...I'm sure Pitt fans would laugh if we asked them if we were a rival to them even though it's a cross over game and both teams have played each other forever.

Regarding manufacturing a rival, SU vs BC as last game of year is our manufacturered rival that was started by Gross and now continued by the ACC. It's considered a battle for the NE...won't become important or even be considered by either fan base a rivalry until it's becomes more of a battle for the ACC divisional championship. That's not likely to happen any time soon.

If we wanted to really get serious about starting up a rivalry, you need to start playing for something that has meaning. Coyle and the other ADs could create trophies that are battled for starting with BC and maybe Pitt. I just have no idea what would we be battling for. It's easier to set up rivalry games like FSU to play UF, Clemson vs SC, the iron bowl, as it's a battle for state bragging rights. Pitt vs PSU makes more sense than Pitt vs SU. So we are left with BC as they have no instate rival as and end of season game.

Finally if you noticed I didn't even mention or do I ever really post about the girls. I have never considered them anything of a rival just another team we played over the years like UConn or Pitt while in the BE. We never really played them to determine the outcome of the BE so they were never considered a rival to me.

So until we start winning again, this thread should be deleted as we are a rival to no one.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Good Lord this is a thread? What a fu..ing embarrassment.

 

[blizz]

Why did this get its own thread again?

 

[TheCusian]

Not sure but its not them. And there are times and there are schools who don't have rivals. Right now that's us. You can't manufacture a rival or a rivalry, some schools (UCONN with UCF) have tried but you can't. I'm sorry just because a few people on a message board didn't like Schiano for a few years back in the day doesn't make Rutgers the rival for SU. Nobody in NJ or at Rutgers considers SU a rivalry. Nobody in greater Syracuse outside of this message board considers Rutgers a rivalry. Nobody on the SU hill considers Rutgers a rival. SU's next big rival will happen generically and happen on its own over time. You can't manufacture it.

That's a non-answer. Who came closer, if not then?

For the record, I don't think they are a true rival and won't become one (since we won't play them). But I do think it's between them, BC, and maybe WVU in the last 10-15 years.

 

[TheCusian]

Good Lord this is a thread? What a fu..ing embarrassment.

Sometimes a hard look in the mirror the day after is what ya need. I hope that in 5 years, we look back and laugh because Clemson is that team now and we're competing for the ACC title. It is what it is. Reality.

 

[Ky Je]

I mentioned it because of this story http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo.../uconn-ucf-rivalry-trophy-conflict-mean-girls where Uconn tried to manufacture a rivalry. That's what this board does with Rutgers I feel. Nobody in America considers Rutgers our rival outside of a few on this message board.

No one really cares about either program on a national level. I think the key difference even with that example is that the school admin tried to force the situation. Whereas this is much more organic, in the sense that the school isn't trying to create anguish between the two fan bases. More importantly not that I interact with any UCF fans and occasionally some from uconn, those two teams are way too far from each other for that to ever work. Those two schools don't have enough day to day interaction with the fans/alumnus. They recruit two very different areas except for FLA which every school that has a pulse(albeit a weak one) will do also. I'm no expert on the two fan bases but I truly can't see them sharing the same vitriol and venom that our two fan bases have.

 

[billsin01]

Exactly. My point is that it was a rivalry for a time period...how can anyone honestly say that Rutgers was our rival for any period longer than about 4 years...and secondly..if you consider them our rival then you would have to consider every other big east team equally our rival because there is no way the rutgers games meant anything more than the others. < run on sentence.

I'm pretty sure the argument is that there is an off-season 13-page thread about Rutgers on our board (along with the whole dumpster fire thread) in a year when we didn't even play them. Is Rutgers a true rival in every sense of the word? Probably not since we've rarely if ever played a meaningful game. But, in terms of being a game that has aspects of a rivalry to it? i'd argue Rutgers is probably about as close as we come to that these days.

We fight recruiting battles (meaning that it's not just a game that happens 1x every 365 days), we are close geographically, there is disdain for one another. I mean, it's not a crazy suggestion.

In my lifetime, WVU was probably sort of the best 'rival' along with the period when VA Tech started to get solid in the BE. However, WVU is sort of a distant memory at this point (at least it's not generating 13-page threads out of nowhere) and VA Tech has surpassed us by such a wide margin that they couldn't give a s--t about us at this point.

So, is rutgers really a rival? I don't know. I'd argue yes b/c if it makes you furious that people are saying they are rivals, then you probably care enough that, despite your objections, they are a rival. in the end, however, the sadder part of the discussion is that we not only don't have rivals, but we have relatively few options for rivals.

You may want to scoff at RU or UConn and you may not care about BC, but their proximity made them solid prospects for a rivalry if any two programs actually sustained any sort of success and the games mattered. Maryland would have been a really fun option, I think, but alas they are long gone.

So at the end of the day, this is a program without many rivals, which kind of blows.

As an aside, it's kind of funny with the move to the ACC that people were excited about playing better teams more consistently, yet the really good teams blow us out and don't care about us and the teams that on our level (or at least not in a different stratosphere) are all at least, what, 8 hours from the cuse? Charlottesville, I guess? There is absolutely no connection to the UVAs, Wakes, Dukes (football), NC States of the world.

 

[Bayside44]

I'm pretty sure the argument is that there is an off-season 13-page thread about Rutgers on our board (along with the whole dumpster fire thread) in a year when we didn't even play them. Is Rutgers a true rival in every sense of the word? Probably not since we've rarely if ever played a meaningful game. But, in terms of being a game that has aspects of a rivalry to it? i'd argue Rutgers is probably about as close as we come to that these days.

We fight recruiting battles (meaning that it's not just a game that happens 1x every 365 days), we are close geographically, there is disdain for one another. I mean, it's not a crazy suggestion.

In my lifetime, WVU was probably sort of the best 'rival' along with the period when VA Tech started to get solid in the BE. However, WVU is sort of a distant memory at this point (at least it's not generating 13-page threads out of nowhere) and VA Tech has surpassed us by such a wide margin that they couldn't give a s--t about us at this point.

So, is rutgers really a rival? I don't know. I'd argue yes b/c if it makes you furious that people are saying they are rivals, then you probably care enough that, despite your objections, they are a rival. in the end, however, the sadder part of the discussion is that we not only don't have rivals, but we have relatively few options for rivals.

You may want to scoff at RU or UConn and you may not care about BC, but their proximity made them solid prospects for a rivalry if any two programs actually sustained any sort of success and the games mattered. Maryland would have been a really fun option, I think, but alas they are long gone.

So at the end of the day, this is a program without many rivals, which kind of blows.

As an aside, it's kind of funny with the move to the ACC that people were excited about playing better teams more consistently, yet the really good teams blow us out and don't care about us and the teams that on our level (or at least not in a different stratosphere) are all at least, what, 8 hours from the cuse? Charlottesville, I guess? There is absolutely no connection to the UVAs, Wakes, Dukes (football), NC States of the world.

On your last sentence we've drawn really well in their venues.

 

[billsin01]

On your last sentence we've drawn really well in their venues.

That's good.

 

[orange_in_VA]

I'm 26. Since I've been a fan of Cuse sports, our rivals have been WVU, Rutgers and UCONN in that order for football during my life. I've never seen SU beat PSU. We've played PITT a lot but like someone else posted, we can't seem to beat them in the last decade+. VT and BC cooled off when they left for the ACC.

I consider Rutgers a rival for many of the reasons a lot of people already stated. Proximity, recruiting areas, competitive games and W-L records during my lifetime.

2011 is a good example of the 3 rivals I suggested. Lost to Rutgers in 2OT by 3 pts, Crushed #11 ranked WVU, and lost by 7pts to UCONN.
Beating just one of Rutgers or UCONN would have had us bowling that year, and those 3 games were the most exciting games of the season.

Now since we won't be playing those 3 schools regularly anymore, I'm hoping to build some new rivalries moving forward with teams like NCState and Ville, while also breathing some new life into rivalries like BC and PITT if we can start winning some of those games.

Would be really cool if we fixed the conference schedule so we could play more coastal teams too.

 

[orange_in_VA]

On your last sentence we've drawn really well in their venues.

Yep. I've been to games at UVA, Wake and NCState already since we joined the ACC, and so have a ton of other Cuse fans. We represent pretty well in the Mid-Atlantic region.

 

[Moontan]

Yep. I've been to games at UVA, Wake and NCState already since we joined the ACC, and so have a ton of other Cuse fans. We represent pretty well in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Agreed. I'm already looking forward to next season's Wake game. It's a very visitor-friendly venue.

 

[orange_in_VA]

Agreed. I'm already looking forward to next season's Wake game. It's a very visitor-friendly venue.

One of the games I'm trying to get to as well. Loved being able to tailgate right across the street from the stadium entrance. I also really liked the stadium. It's intimate being a smaller venue and the seats were great.

 

[ForeverOrange]

I think NCState is becoming a little rivalry. Or was with Shafer around.

Agreed that fanbase sticks their nose up everytime they breath the name Syracuse. They are so arrogant that I HATE when we lose to them.

 

[Macky44]

I'm pretty sure the argument is that there is an off-season 13-page thread about Rutgers on our board (along with the whole dumpster fire thread) in a year when we didn't even play them. Is Rutgers a true rival in every sense of the word? Probably not since we've rarely if ever played a meaningful game. But, in terms of being a game that has aspects of a rivalry to it? i'd argue Rutgers is probably about as close as we come to that these days.

We fight recruiting battles (meaning that it's not just a game that happens 1x every 365 days), we are close geographically, there is disdain for one another. I mean, it's not a crazy suggestion.

In my lifetime, WVU was probably sort of the best 'rival' along with the period when VA Tech started to get solid in the BE. However, WVU is sort of a distant memory at this point (at least it's not generating 13-page threads out of nowhere) and VA Tech has surpassed us by such a wide margin that they couldn't give a s--t about us at this point.

So, is rutgers really a rival? I don't know. I'd argue yes b/c if it makes you furious that people are saying they are rivals, then you probably care enough that, despite your objections, they are a rival. in the end, however, the sadder part of the discussion is that we not only don't have rivals, but we have relatively few options for rivals.

You may want to scoff at RU or UConn and you may not care about BC, but their proximity made them solid prospects for a rivalry if any two programs actually sustained any sort of success and the games mattered. Maryland would have been a really fun option, I think, but alas they are long gone.

So at the end of the day, this is a program without many rivals, which kind of blows.

As an aside, it's kind of funny with the move to the ACC that people were excited about playing better teams more consistently, yet the really good teams blow us out and don't care about us and the teams that on our level (or at least not in a different stratosphere) are all at least, what, 8 hours from the cuse? Charlottesville, I guess? There is absolutely no connection to the UVAs, Wakes, Dukes (football), NC States of the world.

Clemson didn't blow us out this year.
I have always considered BC a rival.

 

[Hoo's That]

Agreed that fanbase sticks their nose up everytime they breath the name Syracuse. They are so arrogant that I HATE when we lose to them.

They can be not-nice people when they put their minds to it.

"Back in the day" UNC had a t-shirt that said, "Duke is puke. Wake is fake. But the team I hate is NC State."

I think I told y'all once before that one of our posters insists the biggest fight he ever saw in Scott Stadium was between two liquored-up NC State fans going at each other.

The latest installment that's earned them our disfavor, they basically believe our bball team is a bunch of thugs on defense, tackling cutters as they move through the lane. Let's just say we disagree with their assessment.

 

[Orangejet]

Agreed that fanbase sticks their nose up everytime they breath the name Syracuse. They are so arrogant that I HATE when we lose to them.

Don't know why they are arrogant for NCS is a notch above ECU when it comes to academics.