Filed under: Duke, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Villanova, North Carolina, Missouri, BYU
With Duke and North Carolina squaring off Wednesday night in the middle of the so-dubbed "Rivalry Week," the staff of FanHouse's college basketball section thought we'd throw together a Top 10 power rankings list of great college basketball rivalries. History matters, but so does current interest level. It's a bit of a combination of past and present landscapes in NCAA basketball rivalries.
1. North Carolina-Duke -- There are rivalries, then there are events. Duke-North Carolina tends to be the latter, the sign that college basketball season is under way for the mainstream sports fan, the college basketball equivalent of Punxsutawney Phil signaling the eventual end of winter or Brett Favre's retirement signaling the NFL offseason . And for good reason. These two schools have won every ACC tournament title since 1998, except one, and have combined for four national championships and 10 Final Fours in that span. The last time these two teams met and both teams weren't ranked? Try 1955, Marty McFly. -- Ray Holloman
2. UK-Louisville -- As if Rick Pitino's treacherous ways didn't ignite this intra-state rivalry enough, Kentucky went and got Pitino's biggest personal rival to coach its team. Though the bitterness between Calipari and Pitino is certainly overblown, it remains safe to assume that they don't care for one another too much. With both teams currently trending upward, the battles will only become more intense -- and more important. -- Evan Hilbert
3. Kansas-Texas -- The Jayhawks and Longhorns have become the marquee matchup of the Big 12, even before Texas snapped Kansas' longer-than-a-Charlie-Sheen-bender homecourt winning streak. So why again does the league not figure out some way for these teams to meet twice each year? -- RH
Diane Kruger Magdalena Wróbel Connie Nielsen Melissa George Cameron Richardson
No comments:
Post a Comment