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Nebraska's Rivalries?

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zrob_rivals105618

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Nebraska really doesn't have a true rivalry anymore, especially after they left the Big 12, or at least the rivalries we had are not nearly as strong as they were.
Name the top 5 teams that are currently Nebraska's biggest rivalries in your opinion... There are no wrong answers! :D
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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May 22, 2005
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This is my list and OPINION::

Oklahoma - We play them in a few years and although we rarely see them anymore I'd still say they are top rivalry.

Iowa - I hate to admit this but they are our designated rival & we play the day after Thanksgiving. Plus state proximity counts for something, and they have owned us since entering the Big 10

Wisconsin - This has been pretty one sided so far but I expect that to change VERY soon. In 5 years or less I will bet the Badgers will be our top rival and the winner will represent the West more often than not.

Northwestern - I hate that they are on my list but we are in the same division and our games are always competitive and close. They have had too much success against us.

Colorado - This was a tough choice... I loved our rivalry in the 90's and 00's. NU has dominated the Buffs but they have always seemed to at least make the games exciting and super close. Plus, I hate their fans. I'm going to the CU game in Lincoln next year and I cannot wait!!

Honorable Mention - Miami

I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody...
 
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H8FULLGR8

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1. Oklahoma
2. tOSU
3. Michigan
4. PSU
5. Wisconsin

Oklahoma for historical reasons the rest are the main competition in the B1G.
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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H8FULLGR8 said:
1. Oklahoma
2. tOSU
3. Michigan
4. PSU
5. Wisconsin

Oklahoma for historical reasons the rest are the main competition in the s.
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Good list.

I'd like to become rivals with Ohio St but we are not close yet. Maybe in 5 years.
I think next year or the year after at the latest we will be ready to challenge Michigan consistently. Only problem is they already 2 HUGE ones in Mich St and Ohio St.
I loved the mini rivalry stretch we had in the 80's and wish it would have continued. Wish they were in our division, I'm not sure I like the East/West way of determining our divisions. I would LOVE a rivalry with Penn St. When I picked my 5 teams I based it on teams in the west that should be competing with us.
I'd bet anything we will have a rivalry with Wisconsin in a couple years and it will be intense in 10 years.
 
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saluno22

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Regarding Ohio State, trying to call them a rival reminds me of an interview with Andy Roddick after he played Roger Federer. At that time Roddick was like 1-6 or something like that against Federer, and Roddick essentially said that he needed to win a few times for it to be considered a rivalry.
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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saluno22 said:
Regarding Ohio State, trying to call them a rival reminds me of an interview with Andy Roddick after he played Roger Federer. At that time Roddick was like 1-6 or something like that against Federer, and Roddick essentially said that he needed to win a few times for it to be considered a rivalry.
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We were lucky to get the 1 win we have against them since we joined the Beg 10. It was a great game to watch but I don't think we win if Braxton Miller gets hurt.
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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Husker4real said:
The odd thing about Nebraska “rivals”, is that no matter who we say is our top rival, that school will NOT say Nebraska is theirs. We always said Oklahoma back in the Big 8 days, but they would have said Texas or OSU.
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Do you think OU would have said Texas in the 70's, 80's or 90's? I'm not so sure. Nebraska and Oklahoma were in conference and played a lot more meaningful games back then and Texas wasn't really that great. NU and OU always decided the conference and many, many times decided who played for the Nat'l Title.
 
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davecisar

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A Current "Rival" has to be someone we consistently play, have at least a reasonable chance of competing with most years and feel a bit of animosity towards

Lots of NU fans want to poo poo Iowa because of Iowas long term mediocrity and unrealistic and unreasonable fanbase, but they as well as Wisconsin- both who have a good number of awful fans are our rivals for now. The deal is NU doesnt really have 5 "Rivals" its:

1) Iowa
2) Wisconsin

Iowas coaching staff seems to like to jab at NU and has made some good traction recruiting Nebraska kids. Weve beaten each other- Iowa had the upper hand of late. Wisconsin has a great humble coach, but a bunch of their fans are awful and they are making recruiting hay here as well. Lost lots of Heartbreakers to them AND blowouts, but they seem to be within reasonable reach most years- not like OSU.

Most years we cant even compete with OSU for a half and we rarely play.
MSU- we dont play often enough AND their fans are very nice
PSU- dont play often enough- same for Michigan
NW- yep some close games, but their coach is cool and their fans are nonexistent. Doesnt feel like a rivalry at all
OU- CU- Miami- we dont play often enough
Texas is kinda a given, but we havent played them forever. If I would add anyone as a third it would probably be tu

Until we can beat Iowa and Wisconsin- in that order, NU does not pass GO, collect $200 and be a top 10- 15 program where we can legitimately compete with the big boys. That is where we are today- hopefully we can move the needle to where OSU and other top programs are our legitimate rivals.
 
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JohnRossEwing

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Considering that Riley made NU everyones homecoming opponent I think we are basically doing a reset...think of the original Nintendo. Right now we pulled the cartridge out...we blew on it (to get rid of the Riley Toxins) and we put it back in, really gently, hardly pushing down on it until we hear that "click"...now we are very gently pressing "power"
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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davecisar said:
A Current "Rival" has to be someone we consistently play, have at least a reasonable chance of competing with most years and feel a bit of animosity towards

Lots of NU fans want to poo poo Iowa because of Iowas long term mediocrity and unrealistic and unreasonable fanbase, but they as well as Wisconsin- both who have a good number of awful fans are our rivals for now. The deal is NU doesnt really have 5 "Rivals" its:

1) Iowa
2) Wisconsin

Iowas coaching staff seems to like to jab at NU and has made some good traction recruiting Nebraska kids. Weve beaten each other- Iowa had the upper hand of late. Wisconsin has a great humble coach, but a bunch of their fans are awful and they are making recruiting hay here as well. Lost lots of Heartbreakers to them AND blowouts, but they seem to be within reasonable reach most years- not like OSU.

Most years we cant even compete with OSU for a half and we rarely play.
MSU- we dont play often enough AND their fans are very nice
PSU- dont play often enough- same for Michigan
NW- yep some close games, but their coach is cool and their fans are nonexistent. Doesnt feel like a rivalry at all
OU- CU- Miami- we dont play often enough
Texas is kinda a given, but we havent played them forever. If I would add anyone as a third it would probably be tu

Until we can beat Iowa and Wisconsin- in that order, NU does not pass GO, collect $200 and be a top 10- 15 program where we can legitimately compete with the big boys. That is where we are today- hopefully we can move the needle to where OSU and other top programs are our legitimate rivals.
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I agree Iowa and Wisconsin are the 2 biggest current rivalries, and Wisconsin will be the biggest in the near future regardless of whether we play Iowa the day after Thanksgiving. I think it would be AMAZING if we started playing Wisconsin on the day after Turkey Day permanently.

I do think you can still have rivalries if you don't play every year. Oklahoma will always be a huge rival for Nebraska.
 
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redfanusa

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We're between rivals right now. I'd say we have a lot of different teams that we play.

Iowa is the closest thing. We share a border with only one Big Ten school, and Iowa is it. As much as we hate to admit, Iowa is the closest thing to Nebraska in the Big Ten in terms of population, culture, etc. and with any luck our academics will start to resemble Iowa as well. Being stuck in the Big Eight with dunderheads like Kansas State allowed Nebraska's academics to remain fairly low but still seem great by comparison.
 
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dand84

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I don't think we have had a rivalry since we left the Big 8 to be honest. Rivalries need to consist of the following IMHO:

1. The game has to actually mean something. This discounts almost every team on the list above. We aren't rivals with OSU, PSU, etc. Those schools have long established rivalries. Also, they eat our lunch every year under our last 2 regimes.
2. The games have to be competitive. This leaves out teams like Wisc. To me it also leaves out Iowa. Before Riley, we lost to Iowa twice in 40+ years. With Riley, an auto win for Iowa. Not a rivalry.
3. Both sides have to agree it is a rivalry. i.e., Colorado and their manufactured rivalry and Iowa and the "designated" manufactured BIG10 rivalry.

Examples of good rivalries: Alabama/Auburn, OSU/Michigan, Nebraska/Oklahoma back in the day.
 
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zrob_rivals105618

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dand84 said:
I don't think we have had a rivalry since we left the Big 8 to be honest. Rivalries need to consist of the following IMHO:

1. The game has to actually mean something. This discounts almost every team on the list above. We aren't rivals with OSU, PSU, etc. Those schools have long established rivalries. Also, they eat our lunch every year under our last 2 regimes.
2. The games have to be competitive. This leaves out teams like Wisc. To me it also leaves out Iowa. Before Riley, we lost to Iowa twice in 40+ years. With Riley, an auto win for Iowa. Not a rivalry.
3. Both sides have to agree it is a rivalry. i.e., Colorado and their manufactured rivalry and Iowa and the "designated" manufactured BIG10 rivalry.

Examples of good rivalries: Alabama/Auburn, OSU/Michigan, Nebraska/Oklahoma back in the day.
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Colorado was definitely a rivalry in my opinion and pretty much meets all of the criteria you listed. The games were almost always competitive, they were usually very close, usually both teams had pretty high rankings, and even though the Huskers dominated for the most part, the Buffs had some huge wines over Nebraska. NU may not have agreed to the rivalry at fist but after the 1st few years CU declared it one I think most fans eventually agreed that it was and the Buff's took over for OU.
 
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dand84

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I would agree that for a couple of years (late 80s and early 2000s) you could call it that. I might even be that way for people in western nebraska and certainly colorado. It simple isn't NU/OU though. I guess I would put it where we are with Iowa now. Last game of the season and by default, now a "rival".
 
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9and4_rivals188421

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H8FULLGR8

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Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll said:
The fan base who had an AD fire a head coach because he looked down his nose at a respectable program is now paying 3 coaches and hoping to get back to competitive with said team. It's fun as a "rival" fan to watch. That's solid entertainment for a Friday at 3.
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Most of the Nebraska fan base disliked That AD, however, the comment he made about Iowa after he fired Pelini was accurate. That’s not why we look down our noses at Iowa fans though. The reason we look at you and laugh is that you have the audacity to tell us what a dumpster fire our program is all the while the team you love has been hardly any better over any stretch of time. MR was 19-19 in 3 years and that’s unacceptable at Nebraska, the following are KFs seasons broken into 3 year segments:
Year 1-3 - 11-24
Year 4-6 - 31-7
Year 7-9 - 19-18
Year 10-12 - 28-11
Year 13-15 - 19-19
Year 16-18 - 27-13

Year 19 - 8-5

There’s a pattern there, can you spot it?
 
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hddude55

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We have no football rival. Creighton is our only rival and we are so lucky to have so many of their wonderful fans here. They make me blue all over.
 
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Bremser_rivals74172

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zrob said:
Husker4real said:
The odd thing about Nebraska “rivals”, is that no matter who we say is our top rival, that school will NOT say Nebraska is theirs. We always said Oklahoma back in the Big 8 days, but they would have said Texas or OSU.
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Do you think OU would have said Texas in the 70's, 80's or 90's? I'm not so sure. Nebraska and Oklahoma were in conference and played a lot more meaningful games back then and Texas wasn't really that great. NU and OU always decided the conference and many, many times decided who played for the Nat'l Title.
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Texas is OU’s main rival. The Red River rivalry reigns supreme for both teams. The Nebraska game was just an important, must win in-conference game.
 
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H8FULLGR8

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Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll said:
H8ful it's is this exact superiority complex that makes it even funnier when you guys get 50 put on you a couple times a year.
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Funny like “haha”? You amuse me. Iowa fan gonna Iowa fan. It’s not a complex it’s just superiority. Hope you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the M Riley era. The fact that Nebraska has a winning record against Iowa in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s is what makes you Iowa fans coming over here so amusing. BTW, Iowa has a slight advantage in the 10s, but then again there’s some time left.
 
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Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll

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Old habits die hard with the husker fans. You went 2-1 in the 90s and 1-0 in the '00s. Not exactly something I would claim a decade of dominance from. It's cool though, scooter will have you guys back in shape, ooooooo......too soon..... ugh, back to your old ways... minus the steroids and coaches cover ups and known abusers in no time. O wait, there are more than 3 competitive teams any given year in our conf..... well heck, maybe you guys can get back to 5-7 and make the Foster farms again.
 
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H8FULLGR8

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Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll said:
Old habits die hard with the husker fans. You went 2-1 in the 90s and 1-0 in the '00s. Not exactly something I would claim a decade of dominance from. It's cool though, scooter will have you guys back in shape, ooooooo......too soon..... ugh, back to your old ways... minus the steroids and coaches cover ups and known abusers in no time. O wait, there are more than 3 competitive teams any given year in our conf..... well heck, maybe you guys can get back to 5-7 and make the Foster farms again.
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Hard to take you seriously when you can’t even get the basic statistical facts for the 90s correct. Enjoy Iowa’s wins over the better programs like tOSU, Nebraska and Michigan, but never forget where Iowa sits in the B1G (7th) as a program overall. Sorry Nebraska bumped your team lower when they joined the B1G, life isn’t fair. If life were fair Nebraska fans wouldn’t have had to endure the MR era.
 
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Wasnt-drunk-didnt-troll

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You were .500 against Texas or OU? That's weird my info says all time you are 4-10 against Texas and like 38-45 with OU. If you consider yourself competitive with either of them you better consider Iowa competitive with you.
 
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H8FULLGR8

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Typical message board Iowa fan response, “hey Nebraska, it’s not the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s anymore!”

Iowa wins the B1G 5 times in the next 10 years then maybe they can be a rival.
 
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H8FULLGR8

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Iowa fan comparing Iowa football to Texas, OU or Nebraska.......now that’s amusing.
 
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