We need to develop new rivalries.

[Alsacs]

Rivalries take time.
We had a shot to be Duke’s secondary rival after 2014 but the games aren’t top 15 battles they won’t get national juice.

If BC could actually develop the program back to mediocrity they could be a rival because private schools and Boston-NY but they suck so it doesn’t work.

I consider Pitt a conference rival but I don’t care about playing them.

Louisville had some juicy games but we need to get back to that status.
We aren’t going to have a Michigan-Ohio State or Duke-UNC but we can develop conference rivalries.

 

[sufandu]

I don’t agree. I think we’ve gotten the rivalry cooking a bit with Duke. We’ve beat them at Cameron a few times (most other ACC teams have struggled there), we had the incredible 2014 games when we joined the conference, the Gillon buzzer beater at the Dome, and the Tyus Battle-led OT upset when they were #1 with Zion. I think we can become a secondary rivalry to them (after UNC) similar to what they used to have with Maryland. I think the North vs South and old vs new ACC element can also stoke it. Old-school Big East fans like myself hated the ACC, so it feels like we’re ripe for that rivalry still taking off, once we right the ship and get back to regular top 25 finishes.

It would take a lot of games going both ways for them to consider us a Georgetownesque rival. Their history with and proximity to UNC is just too close.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Other than the obvious one, what rivalries really exist in the ACC?

NC State vs Duke/UNC is more a little brother situation. Wake is non-existent

UVA/VTech? So what
Miami/FSU? Who cares
Clemson, GTech, whoever else? Big deal
ND, Lville, BC, Pitt, Syracuse games vs anyone? Big s#!+

Maybe because there's so much favoritism toward Duke, UNC and until recently with UVA, nobody has really challenged them. Back in the BE, for almost 35 years, you had Syracuse, Georgetown, Nova, St. John's, UConn and then Louisville, with a few SH, Pitt and BC, all winning the regular season and BET.

It's hard enough in this college sports landscape to develop and maintain rivalries, but it's even harder when the history isn't there.

 

[Niastri]

What we need is a soul crushing streak of blowouts where Duke fan starts to believe they'll never best us again... Including in the ACC tournament finals and the Final Four.

That's how you start a rivalry.

 

[Gotothehole]

How about move back to the BE

 

[bballbeadle]

How about move back to the BE

They say you can’t go home again.

 

[JustPherU]

"Exceptions" like the Yankees in the Bronx and the Brooklyn Dodgers? Except for the 77/78 series, there is no rivalry between the LA Dodgers & the Yanks.

81 series as well, but I agree there is no rivalry between LA Dodgers and the Mighty Yankees.

 

[NKR1978]

I still think that Louisville is the best "fit" as a rival within the ACC. We have a good history of some very tough games coming into it from the NBE, the programs are of roughly equal stature (like both elite but not blue blood level), and neither has a real natural rival in the ACC. I don't consider Pitt or BC to be true rivals.

Louisville, Pitt and BC are the only teams in the ACC that would view us as real rivals.

Though once it matters to teams to beat us again, we can be everyone's rival. Being good for the better part of 30 years in the Big East, they all hated us. If we spend 30 years finishing 1-6 in the ACC, then we'll have a lot of teams hating us.

 

[NKR1978]

Agreed. We beat them in the Ville in 2013 when they were #1. And we faced off with them in the Big East tourney Finals in both 2009 and 2013. Man, I wish we’d beaten Michigan in the 2013 Final Four (that Triche charging call..argh) and gotten a crack at Louisville for the national title.

And even worse, Triche was called for a block in basically the exact same situation in the first half! We were hosed that entire game and still had a shot to win.

Somehow the officiating in that game was worse than the 2012 OSU debacle. We really had a string of getting completed screwed in our elimination games. 2011 Marquette and the non existent over and back. 2010 - KJ getting suplexed with no foul called on Butler. At least in 09 we just got waxed by Oklahoma from start to finish.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Seeing UConn as a rival inidicates that it is possible to create new rivalries. UConn was a complete non-factor in my mind until about 1996 and now we pine for the rivalry we had with them. We certainly need to get better before any of this matters. No team wants a rival that is of lesser stature, it minimizes their program. I don't see Pitt as anywhere near our stature as a program. We have recently played UNC, Duke, and UVA in Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four games. We had a chance a few years ago to play Louisville for a national championship. That would NEVER, EVER happen with Pitt or BC.

 

[Col. Bleep]

How about: We need to play our rivals yearly. Uconn and Georgetown. We don't need to go hunting for new ones. The ACC is/was a money grab. With money grabs you end up distorting the intangible things of sport. one of which is the rivalries that were born out of an era when the big east teams needed each other to survive.

Amen...amen...amen!
And did I say amen?

I've posted this before.
It seems obvious.
Christmas week Syracuse and Pitt come into MSG or Barclay and play a game each against UConn and G-town.
It would sell out and be an annual spectacle everyone would look forward to seeing.
The Old School Showdown.

Oh, and... I LOOOOOAAAAATHE G-TOWN!

GO ORANGE!

 

[Briancuse]

UNC and duke are already taken.

 

[Alsacs]

Seeing UConn as a rival inidicates that it is possible to create new rivalries. UConn was a complete non-factor in my mind until about 1996 and now we pine for the rivalry we had with them. We certainly need to get better before any of this matters. No team wants a rival that is of lesser stature, it minimizes their program. I don't see Pitt as anywhere near our stature as a program. We have recently played UNC, Duke, and UVA in Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four games. We had a chance a few years ago to play Louisville for a national championship. That would NEVER, EVER happen with Pitt or BC.

The 1990 Big East title game was for the 1 seed in the East.
That was one of the biggest UConn-Syracuse games ever.

If we win that we get the Meadowlands for sweet 16 and potentially elite 8.

UConn was good from 1994 onward.

 

[Bayside44]

Other than the obvious one, what rivalries really exist in the ACC?

NC State vs Duke/UNC is more a little brother situation. Wake is non-existent

UVA/VTech? So what
Miami/FSU? Who cares
Clemson, GTech, whoever else? Big deal
ND, Lville, BC, Pitt, Syracuse games vs anyone? Big s#!+

Maybe because there's so much favoritism toward Duke, UNC and until recently with UVA, nobody has really challenged them. Back in the BE, for almost 35 years, you had Syracuse, Georgetown, Nova, St. John's, UConn and then Louisville, with a few SH, Pitt and BC, all winning the regular season and BET.

It's hard enough in this college sports landscape to develop and maintain rivalries, but it's even harder when the history isn't there.

UVA and UNC consider themselves such, I think they've played each other in football more than any other. When they meet it's wine and cheese nirvana.

 

[HoustonCuse]

The 1990 Big East title game was for the 1 seed in the East.
That was one of the biggest UConn-Syracuse games ever.

If we win that we get the Meadowlands for sweet 16 and potentially elite 8.

UConn was good from 1994 onward.

OK, but my point is, that was like 10-14 years into the Big East. We are only 6-7 years into this ACC thing. Rivalries can and do develop.

 

[Red Holzman]

Duke as a potential Rival requires:
- 2 Best-Buddy HC's retire -the winner probably apologizes after their games
- Villain(s) on either or both teams, that either chronically or with one memorable play creates bad blood that carries forward and never dies.
- Games where fans anticipate player(s) potentially losing their cool with the level of fire displayed.

Beating Duke is great-
but doesn't compare to beating Georgetown and the "characters" on their teams back in the BE days!

Debatable, but my take...

 

[sam]

The 1990 Big East title game was for the 1 seed in the East.
That was one of the biggest UConn-Syracuse games ever.

If we win that we get the Meadowlands for sweet 16 and potentially elite 8.

UConn was good from 1994 onward.

UConn ended up losing to Duke in the 1990 Elite 8 on a Christian Laettner buzzer beater in OT.

 

[Madbiker]

We need to be relevant to be a rival to anyone. We haven't been for too many years. If we win enough games to be top 3 in the conference most years, we'll have rivalries. Nobody looks at a middle of the conference team as a big rival. .

 

[CuseFaninVT]

We'll develop rivalries when we matter again.

To paraphrase an old West Wing line, they’ll hate us when we win.

 

[Briancuse]

Other than the obvious one, what rivalries really exist in the ACC?

NC State vs Duke/UNC is more a little brother situation. Wake is non-existent

UVA/VTech? So what
Miami/FSU? Who cares
Clemson, GTech, whoever else? Big deal
ND, Lville, BC, Pitt, Syracuse games vs anyone? Big s#!+

Maybe because there's so much favoritism toward Duke, UNC and until recently with UVA, nobody has really challenged them. Back in the BE, for almost 35 years, you had Syracuse, Georgetown, Nova, St. John's, UConn and then Louisville, with a few SH, Pitt and BC, all winning the regular season and BET.

It's hard enough in this college sports landscape to develop and maintain rivalries, but it's even harder when the history isn't there.

Most of those are more on the football side. Clemson rival in football is usce I doubt either care about each other on the bball side. I think with VA tech being better uva/tech could become a good bball rivalry.

 

[sufandu]

OK, but my point is, that was like 10-14 years into the Big East. We are only 6-7 years into this ACC thing. Rivalries can and do develop.

That's true but Georgetown had been our primary rival for that same 10-14 years. Duke and UNC have been primary rivals for like 50-60 years.

We can develop new rivalries, but we have to be good enough long enough to make another good team's life difficult. And there's no guarantee that we'll develop good rivalries. Most schools don't have great rivalries.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Duke should be our new Georgetown.
Virginia should be our new UConn.
UNC should be our new Pitt.
Pitt should be our new St. Johns.
Louisville is still old Louisville.

Here's a thought: Why don't we just do what our "Rutgers-Obsessed SU Fans" (ROSUF) did with Rutgers football, and just make one up?
We can pick a perennial loser, like oh, I don't know- Wake Forest, maybe?! Then when they have a decent couple of seasons, we can denigrate ourselves by setting aside our history, constantly sniffing their jocks, and then obsess over everything they say and/or do! Amirite?
Sorry, that's kind of a sore subject with me. In any case, if we win the rivalries will happen. Period.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I think we need to play Villanova every year.

Just looking to pile up the losses?

 

[kcsu]

Duke is our new Rival

 

[SBU72]

I think you need at least a few years of home-and-home games to prime the pump for rivalries to happen. ACC tried to force this but didn't follow thru. Also, you need to have the students accept that the opposing school is at least close to being equal and there is a possibility that SU could beat them. As it is now, the students/alumni at the old ACC schools mentioned feel they are so superior that there is little fear of losing and any lose is purely luck.