Hey guys, just thought I'd chime in on this one.
As a Buckeye fan, we deal with Penn State. Obviously Michigan is our arch rival, but all the Buckeye fans I know consider PSU to be the second biggest game on the sched. Now we like to tweak them and say it's just a game, but it's not. Just check out OSU's and PSU's scout board. If Michigan weren't our arch rival, I think us and PSU would have a huge rivalry game similar to Michigan/OSU. And for Michigan, Michigan State is the same way. Now OSU's first arch rival was Illinois until the 30s. Because Michigan killed us and we didn't win a game for the first 20 times until Chick Harley led us in the late teens. So first thing, rivalries can change.
Now in the B10, the Wisconsin poster was right about the current situation. We hate Wisconsin and they hate us, but not as much as we hate Michigan and they hate Minnesota. Their rivalry with Minnesota would be a monster one if Minnesota kept winning like their past and if Wisconsin had been consistently good prior to Alvarez. Those two teams HATE each other, but as said, it can change, but it will take a long time to become arch rivals, but in the meantime you guys could have a really good rivalry with them. Iowa's 2 biggest reivals are those two, but it's always second best, so that's why I think the B10 was hoping you guys would become Iowa's arch rival.
I do think Iowa is a good candidate, but they are a lot like Michigan State, awesome one year, 4 wins the next. I really like your games with Michigan State and hoped they would continue, but not right now. As for Northwestern, they are the traditional bottom feeder prior to the last 20 years. BUT they can surprise you, and I know that first game, you guys were probably like, no way did we just lose to Northwestern, but it's a tougher league than people think. I think this one will be tough because Northwestern is a private school and they just don't have the huge fan base to piss you guys off, but if you can continue games like that, who knows?
So I think Iowa is your best shot at an arch rivaly in the near future, Wisconsin possibly in decades, but that will be tough. Also I hope the B10 rounds out getting Kansas and OU and then you guys wont have to worry about it. OU would be obvious.