Where does The Game rank in best rivalries in sports?
As measured by what is at stake, intensity of relative fandoms, history, relative skill level of the participants and prestige:
1. India/Pakistan (Cricket). Probably the only sporting event monitored by the State Department as it can produce seismic diplomatic shifts.
2. Michigan/Ohio State (Football). The real secret sauce to this rivalry? Midwest mentality at its purest on display for the world one day per year under a gunmetal sky and cold temps.
3. New Zealand/South Africa (Rugby). Typically the top two teams in the world every time they play. Two nations that have rugby either 1 or 1a in overall fandom (Bafana Bafana, and soccer generally, also very important in RSA).
4. Duke/UNC (Basketball). Loses points because they play twice a year (if not more). Lessens the import.
5. Red Sox/Yankees (Baseball). The history of this rivalry is unparalleled in any professional sport.
6. Russia/Canada (Ice Hockey). Dates back to CCCP days but still continues as the top sport in each country (and the roster of Hall of Famers to prove it).
7. Army/Navy (Football). America on display for the world. Still an important game even if the teams aren't what they were over half a century before.
8. Mexico/USA (Soccer). Neither team has had a ton of WC success of late (or ever, for the USA) which makes this game even more important - especially when played in Estadio Azteca.
9. Brazil/Argentina (Soccer). Could potentially swap this with 8.
10. Canadiens/Maple Leafs (Ice Hockey). The Original 6 aspect adds a tremendous element to this.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:45 PM ^
Sure I'm biased, but.....
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:45 PM ^
Barcelona / Madrid is 100x more popular than OSU / Michigan. From a “club” perspective vs national teams, I’d say it’s by far the biggest rivalry of all.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
Agreed, and I’m not a soccer fan. But when the game enters *our* lexicon (see: El Assico), it’s big.
#8 is not in the top 1000 rivalries in the world, let alone the top 10. There are more Americans who don’t care about the USMNT than the entire Mexican diaspora plus the US soccer fans. There may actually be more American fans of El Tri than of the US team, which should immediately disqualify it. It’d be as if there were more Michigan fans in Ohio than OSU fans.
November 22nd, 2022 at 10:30 PM ^
….Like if Rutgers was a rival.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
My only issue with Barcelona/Madrid, and I am admittedly not a soccer person so I don't know for sure, is that they may play more than once per year? Big advantage to rivalries that play somewhat rarely, in my view (e.g., once per year). Red Sox/Yankees is an offender here but premier rivalry in the national pastime of the most sports-obsessed large nation wins.
An additional point. While the EPL is massive outside of Europe, is the La Liga at the same level? Do that many people really care about this game outside of Spain? The entire football watching portion of the United States, and some outside of the country, will have at least a passing interest in UMich/OSU.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:59 PM ^
So… India / Pakistan, then?
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
So insane that the matches were cancelled many times over political unrest. Not hooliganism like the UK or East Lansing, actual risk of conflict.
India will be the world's most populous nation in just a few years.
2021 UMich/OSU had 15.3m viewers. The 2019 India/Pakistan Cricket World Cup match was watched by 273 million viewers. 273 million!
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:34 PM ^
They're also the 2 countries most likely to fire nuclear weapons at each other, so there's that.
If I had the launch codes, would I drop a Trident on Columbus? Probably not, but I'd need a guy on the payroll whose only job was to remind me why that's a bad idea.
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
danger close due to fallout?
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:10 PM ^
Hatter, do NOT put me on that payroll..
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:44 PM ^
Okay, but is cricket really a sport? Isn't it more like an insane asylum? What a bonkers game -- truly English.
November 22nd, 2022 at 6:06 PM ^
If baseball is a sport, cricket is
November 23rd, 2022 at 9:24 AM ^
It's definitely more Desi than English these days
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:04 PM ^
They play at least 2x per year. Likely more given the various tournaments in club soccer. That being said, most club sports play more than 1x per year outside of American football. So your criteria (which is totally fine since this is subjective) would limit rivalries to football and national sports.
and internationally, it’s enormous. Only behind Premier league. This was especially true during the Ronaldo/Messi days, but still huge. No rivalry has the history and talent of these two in club soccer. Today Man City and Man U is the only game that gets more viewers.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Ah, got it. For me, it is one of several factors though my list is obviously correct because I said so.
November 22nd, 2022 at 8:32 PM ^
Far, far more people worldwide are fans of Real/Barça than the Yankees or Red Sox. It's not even close.
Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to ding Real/Barça for playing twice a year when the Yankees-Red Sox play, what, 19 times? Even diehard fans of those two franchises probably can't remember a lot of the games they played this year.
(And if we're being honest, baseball stopped being the national pastime a long time ago. The Super Bowl is a much bigger deal than the World Series.)
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:45 PM ^
Staee fans are apoplectic about the disrepek of this list.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
Illinois fans would like to have a word...
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
These guys would like a word and they are armed.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:28 PM ^
*Penn State has entered the chat
November 22nd, 2022 at 11:10 PM ^
A Little Brown Jug was slammed onto the table.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
It was always a big rivalry game for both schools, but once Bo and Woody had their "ten year war." The rivalry dramatically escalated and is now the greatest sports rivalry in the United States.
#GoBlue
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:10 PM ^
Michigan's primary rival was UChicago, Minnesota, and then Sparty when they first joined the big ten. Just before the Ten Year war is when they became our primary rival, we have always been how they measured themselves tho
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
West Ham and Millwall isn't necessarily "popular" but the teams avoid playing each other as the fans will literally kill each other over it.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
Watched Green Street Hooligans twice last week.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
No one likes us and we don't care.
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:59 PM ^
Biggie - Tupac if “literally kill” is your metric!
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
Controversial opinion incoming: baseball is not a sport. It’s a game. And therefore should not be part of this conversation
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
Baloney!
That said, I would rank Cubs-Cardinals (and I hate both teams!) every bit as high as the ESPN-overhyped Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, with Giants-Dodgers close behind.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:09 PM ^
Only issue is that the Cubs have been downright terrible for such large swaths of that rivalry's history that it makes it hard. Pains me to say it but Dodgers/Giants may be bigger.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
True, but until 2004, the Red Sox had an even longer stretch of suckiness than did the Cubs. Fast forward to the present and Boston appears to be in for another long rebuild.
November 22nd, 2022 at 9:03 PM ^
I think you confuse “not winning a World Series” with “suckiness.” The Red Sox had great teams many times before 2004, and always blew it in heartbreaking fashion. Including two of the most heartbreaking of all time in 1975 and 1986. The Cubs just sucked, period. Red Sox v.Yankees is on a completely other level than Cubs v Cardinals
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:17 PM ^
If UNC -Duke loses points for playing twice in a season, you have to find the Sox and yanks for playing a dozen times per year, most of the games in ESPN. The rest of the country doesn't care.
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:49 PM ^
No. And however much ESPN hypes Yankees-Red Sox, they did not create the rivalry. The Babe Ruth trade created the rivalry. And you can't be as bad as the Cubs were for so many decades and have a top-ranked rivalry. What makes the Yankees-Red Sox so special is the frequency in which their head-to-head series are decisive for the World Series. It's like baseball Frazier vs. Ali.
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:25 PM ^
Oh, yes, yes. Monopoly, yahtzee, and baseball.
GTFO with this. This not a "controversial opinion." It's not controversial because there's no controversy. This is just an objectively incorrect belief.
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:52 PM ^
Hitting a curving ball coming at you at 80+ mph requires no eye-hand coordination and is easy, right?
November 22nd, 2022 at 7:40 PM ^
Well everybody calls it a game in the 7th inning, but I thought it was a pass time.
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Lord Palmerston vs. Pitt the Elder
November 22nd, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
Rest in peace, Boss Hogg.
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:12 PM ^
You asked for it, Boggs!!!
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:50 PM ^
#1, always #1
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:53 PM ^
I disagree on Red Sox/Yankees. Until 2004, the Red Sox always seemed to lose when it mattered. it more closely resembled the “rivalry” I (the Red Sox) had with my older brother (the Yankees) when we were growing up. Pretty one sided.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
I feel like this "little brother" comparison may have been made somewhere before, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:53 PM ^
This reminds me of an event a few years ago when I was speaking to a pretty large gathering in East Lansing. So I began, "I just want to say as a Michigan grad that we fellow Michiganders need to stand together and also as fellow B1G schools we need to have unity. I feel that we really are like one big family. Now, in any family you have a hierarchy -- there's a big brother and a little brother..." The place went nuts and boos began raining down! One of the great moments of my public speaking career.
November 22nd, 2022 at 8:04 PM ^
and you lived to tell the tale.
honestly, what a baller move.
November 22nd, 2022 at 4:36 PM ^
I agree. Any items like #s 4 and 5 need to have an Easy Coast hype filter applied. Stuff from that area will always be a little overrated.
November 22nd, 2022 at 5:56 PM ^
Giants Dodgers had and East Coast rivalry that moved West. I would place them above Yanks/Sox
November 22nd, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^
I don't know about worldwide but it should be the top rivalry in the States.