LandOf10: Iowa-Nebraska series sizzling toward rivalry status

[knapplc]

In addition to the poll being fairly split, it would seem that if it were not at least somewhat a rivalry - there can be different degrees, can't there? - this thread would not be be on page five.

There are certainly degrees of rivalries. You could rank rivalries from the most inconsequential - when teams happen to be in the same division (Nebraska/Purdue) - to the most strident - when teams like Nebraska & Oklahoma competed yearly for conference supremacy. For example, Iowa has several rivalries, some more important than others.

In general, every team in your division is a rival, every team in the other division is a bit of a rival, every yearly or semi-frequent two opponents are rivals, etc.

It's where people's varying definitions of what is or isn't a rival that makes for conversation. To more than half the respondents on a Husker football message board, Iowa and Nebraska aren't "rivals" yet. That's probably the most damning thing for pro-rivalry folks. If you can't get consensus here, Joe Public isn't buying in.

 

[Enhance]

Are we talking about millennials or the age ranges you mentioned above? Millennials are between the ages of 18-34 right now with rough birth dates between (I think) 1982 and 2004. The vast majority of millennials are full fledged adults, and a significant portion of them were alive/cognizant during Nebraska's greatest era. This detail has a significant influence on the argument.

Second, I too find a difference between being "elite" and "blue blood," so we should probably clarify what we're talking about here.

Lastly, I'd put millennial Husker fans on par with similarly aged fans of other blue blood programs.

Yes, I know approximately what the age of a millennial is. (although there is some debate about the exact years) I was making an assumption based on your comments that you are a millennial.

Your definition of elite and blue-blood is probably very similar to mine. I agree with the definitions that have been discussed in this thread. I'm just playing devil's advocate and saying that there is no gold standard way of defining either label. Thus, it is subjective.

Further, I agree that millennial Husker fans and millennial Bama fans probably both have a good perspective on the history of CFB. I was comparing you with an "average millennial CFB fan" which is an entirely different thing.

In that case, my humble opinion is that most millennial CFB fans (or a significant portion) would consider Nebraska a blue blood. Once you get down into that 7-18 age range of people (Gen Y, I believe?) things might get dicier. Millennials in the 25-34 group grew up with Nebraska being a powerhouse program.

And then I think most fans, regardless of age, would not consider Nebraska elite (which we probably agree upon).

 

[StPaulHusker]

In addition to the poll being fairly split, it would seem that if it were not at least somewhat a rivalry - there can be different degrees, can't there? - this thread would not be be on page five.

There are certainly degrees of rivalries. You could rank rivalries from the most inconsequential - when teams happen to be in the same division (Nebraska/Purdue) - to the most strident - when teams like Nebraska & Oklahoma competed yearly for conference supremacy. For example, Iowa has several rivalries, some more important than others.

In general, every team in your division is a rival, every team in the other division is a bit of a rival, every yearly or semi-frequent two opponents are rivals, etc.

It's where people's varying definitions of what is or isn't a rival that makes for conversation. To more than half the respondents on a Husker football message board, Iowa and Nebraska aren't "rivals" yet. That's probably the most damning thing for pro-rivalry folks. If you can't get consensus here, Joe Public isn't buying in.

I don't think 50 people voting on a message board is an indication of how "Joe Public" is or isn't buying in.

 

[Enhance]

I think the poll is fair and usable data, at the least. It's relevant. I'd be hesitant to extrapolate it to the larger fan base, but if we're undecided about something here, it's fair to say the rest of the fan base might be as well.

 

[StPaulHusker]

I think the poll is fair and usable data, at the least. It's relevant. I'd be hesitant to extrapolate it to the larger fan base, but if we're undecided about something here, it's fair to say the rest of the fan base might be as well.

Sam McKewon did a poll about the same thing where 2100 people voted. 57% said Iowa was a rival.

Now what?

 

[Mavric]

In addition to the poll being fairly split, it would seem that if it were not at least somewhat a rivalry - there can be different degrees, can't there? - this thread would not be be on page five.

There are certainly degrees of rivalries. You could rank rivalries from the most inconsequential - when teams happen to be in the same division (Nebraska/Purdue) - to the most strident - when teams like Nebraska & Oklahoma competed yearly for conference supremacy. For example, Iowa has several rivalries, some more important than others.

In general, every team in your division is a rival, every team in the other division is a bit of a rival, every yearly or semi-frequent two opponents are rivals, etc.

It's where people's varying definitions of what is or isn't a rival that makes for conversation. To more than half the respondents on a Husker football message board, Iowa and Nebraska aren't "rivals" yet. That's probably the most damning thing for pro-rivalry folks. If you can't get consensus here, Joe Public isn't buying in.

But that's the thing - if there are varying degrees, who's to say that it is or isn't?

I don't think anyone would argue that it's on par with NU/OU. But that's probably a bar that we'll never get back to for any number of reasons. If it can still be a rivalry of a lesser degree, I think it's in that ballpark.

The problem is the line is completely arbitrary and means different things to different people. As you said, any division opponent could be a rival. That wouldn't work for me. But I think a good argument can be made for a team you play every year - multiple times across multiple sports - that is your closest neighbor doesn't take a whole lot more to be considered a rival. It's even featured coaches taking shots at each other. And the fan bases don't seem to care for each other a whole lot.

I don't really care. I'll be a whole lot more worried about having a rival when we're not struggling to beat most of our schedule. But I think it's the closest we have right now and I think there's a pretty good argument that it's a rivalry, just one that lacks a lot of direct history.

 

[knapplc]

I don't think 50 people voting on a message board is an indication of how "Joe Public" is or isn't buying in.

Sam McKewon did a poll about the same thing where 2100 people voted. 57% said Iowa was a rival.

Now what?

Seems like a conflict.

I'd also say that Sam works for a paper that has been pushing this thing as a rivalry since before Nebraska & Iowa were conference mates, and if after all that time only 57% of the people responding, who are either consumers of that paper or familiar enough with it to respond to a poll, don't have a solid consensus that we're rivals, we probably aren't.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Beating your rival can make up for a lousy season. Losing to your rival ruins a great season. That's what's fueled Michigan/Ohio State all these years.

It also fueled our rivalry with Texas. But since Texas didn't consider it much of a rivalry, maybe it wasn't.

Iowa is the last game of the season and that's what it's felt like to me the past decade: the chance to make a statement rather than a storied rivalry.

My Iowa people are from Eastern Iowa and historically rooted for the Huskers. But I've been told Iowa fans have grown insufferable. We can build on that.

 

[Enhance]

I think the poll is fair and usable data, at the least. It's relevant. I'd be hesitant to extrapolate it to the larger fan base, but if we're undecided about something here, it's fair to say the rest of the fan base might be as well.

Sam McKewon did a poll about the same thing where 2100 people voted. 57% said Iowa was a rival.

Now what?

The 'now what' is what I said - it's fair to say the fan base is conflicted.

Sam's poll does not prove Iowa is a rival anymore than the Huskerboard poll proves they aren't. What it does prove is exactly what myself and others have been saying - there isn't a consensus.

The fact that his poll had a majority of people say 'yes' does not make that poll's result an unflappable truth.

 

[Kiyoat Husker]

I voted yes - but not with conviction. I could be swayed either way with the right argument. To say we are "conflicted" about it sounds right to me. I'm sure this poll has been done before on this board - maybe more than once. I would guess that the "not a rivalry" group has gradually gotten smaller, and will continue to do so.

 

[badgers007]

Wisconsin feels the same way about us as many in this thread feel about Iowa, except that we are even more of an afterthought to them.

Wouldn't go so far to say that Nebraska is any type of "afterthought" to Wisconsin, but the two programs do not have much history before 2011. They and the fan bases are still becoming familiar with one another.

Although Wisconsin and Minnesota has been one-sided (Badgers have won 13 in a row and 20 of the last 22), this is a long-standing rivalry that extends beyond football. The big one is reciprocity of tuition, meaning you see a lot of HS students from both states crossing borders. Outside of that, there is a large-contingent of Wisconsin alumni scattered throughout the Twin Cities and a number of towns/cities in Wisconsin are closer to Minneapolis than Madison/Milwaukee.

Really, for Wisconsin/Minnesota, the rivalry is personal and extends well beyond football, basketball and hockey.

 

[knapplc]

Wisconsin feels the same way about us as many in this thread feel about Iowa, except that we are even more of an afterthought to them.

Wouldn't go so far to say that Nebraska is any type of "afterthought" to Wisconsin, but the two programs do not have much history before 2011. They and the fan bases are still becoming familiar with one another.

Although Wisconsin and Minnesota has been one-sided (Badgers have won 13 in a row and 20 of the last 22), this is a long-standing rivalry that extends beyond football. The big one is reciprocity of tuition, meaning you see a lot of HS students from both states crossing borders. Outside of that, there is a large-contingent of Wisconsin alumni scattered throughout the Twin Cities and a number of towns/cities in Wisconsin are closer to Minneapolis than Madison/Milwaukee.

Really, for Wisconsin/Minnesota, the rivalry is personal and extends well beyond football, basketball and hockey.

As someone without a horse in the Iowa/Nebraska race, do you consider the Hawkeyes & Huskers a rivalry?

Do you speak with Iowa fans, and if so, do any of them consider the Nebraska game a rivalry?

 

[Redux]

You know who I would rather consider as a rival than Iowa? Northwestern. They give us all we can handle every time they play us, or at least as much as they can that given season. The NW games have been far more exciting than almost every Nebraska vs Iowa game as B1G foes. Seriously, only the 2014 game stands out to me in memory other than 2015, and that's only because I was there and it was flipping cold

 

[knapplc]

You know who I would rather consider as a rival than Iowa? Northwestern. They give us all we can handle every time they play us, or at least as much as they can that given season. The NW games have been far more exciting than almost every Nebraska vs Iowa game as B1G foes.

Agreed. They've been good games nearly every year.

 

[Kiyoat Husker]

You know who I would rather consider as a rival than Iowa? Northwestern. They give us all we can handle every time they play us, or at least as much as they can that given season. The NW games have been far more exciting than almost every Nebraska vs Iowa game as B1G foes. Seriously, only the 2014 game stands out to me in memory other than 2015, and that's only because I was there and it was flipping cold

I still dislike Iowa more, but have you noticed their recruiting at NW? They are sneaky talented, at least, more than Iowa. Which is funny, because Hawkeye fans like to call them jNW, or "just Northwestern".