College battle tops list of best defunct rivalries
With fierce winds of realignment swirling about college football, last weekend we might have seen the end of some historic rivalries, dating back to two centuries ago.
Have Missouri and Kansas played the last edition of the Border War, which began as a real war with real bloodshed? Are Texas and Texas A&M really putting the Lone Star battle on hiatus, or is the Texas legislature or ex-Aggie Yell Leader Ricky Perry going to do something about it? The Backyard Brawl might survive, but is it ever going to be the same now that both teams have signed up to bolt the Big East, to different conferences?
In the BCS era, disappearing rivalries unfortunately are becoming routine. Oklahoma and Nebraska used to have one of the top five rivalries in college football, but now they no longer play each other, opting to fill up their schedules with Utah State and Idaho instead. Ditto West Virginia and Virginia Tech, as the Black Diamond Trophy has been gathering dust in a storeroom in Blacksburg since 2005.
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College football is hardly the only sport where storied rivalries are consigned to the ash heap of history.
Remember Bears-Cardinals? Both were original NFL teams and shared the same city for nearly 40 years. But realignment in 1970, which put the teams in different divisions, and the Cardinals' move to the desert in 1988, extinguished any intensity that existed between the clubs and their fan bases. A more recent example is the Raiders-Seahawks rivalry, which lasted a quarter century and featured great contests that included 13 in prime time. But after Seattle was sent packing to the NFC in 2002, they only meet once every four years, and the erstwhile rivalry is now strictly for the history books.
Another Pacific Northwest rivalry also bit the dust, to be replaced by a soccer rivalry that's merely a cheap imitation. Seattle and Portland are two cities that can't stand each other and that enmity was best manifested by the SuperSonics-Trailblazers hostility. Of all the NBA's regional rivalries, that was by far the most lively, aided by the fact that Seattle native Paul Allen owned the Blazers. But after the treacherous new owners of the Sonics moved the team to Oklahoma City in 2008, it was over. Portlanders can't work up much hate for the Dust Bowl.
And there were others, one in women's basketball that burned as bright as any other; another where there was not one shred of "brotherly love"; and yet another where the fans hurl insults each other – among other things – with not a word of English spoken.
You can blame most of the vanishing rivalries on money, whether it's because teams relocate, leagues expand and reshuffle or schools jump conferences. But whatever the reason, these are our top defunct rivalries:
The top five:
5. Dodgers-Reds: The 1994 realignment, which moved the Reds to the NL Central, put this rivalry to rest for good. Their regular-season meetings became sparse and nowhere as intense and they've only met once in the playoffs, with the Reds winning a 1995 NL Division Series. See more
4. Canadiens-Nordiques: The rivalry breathed its last breath in 1995 when the Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. See more
3. Texas-Arkansas: The rivalry ended after 1991 when Arkansas left the scandal-wrecked SWC for the SEC. Since that time the schools have only met four times and with nowhere near the emotion the games once held. See more
2. Phillies-Pirates: The Pirates, believing they would have trouble competing financially with the big-market Phillies and Mets, switched to the NL Central in 1994, effectively killing the rivalry. See more
1. Oklahoma-Nebraska: There is hope, as the schools are working on rekindling the rivalry with a home-and-home series in 2020 and 2021, just in time for the 50th anniversary of 1971's "Game of the Century." See more
