Division III football rivalries

[PASAemRBPu]

i am not sold in a bottle...(well cheap anyway since i do have my pride)

[wally_wabash]

I don't think it's better, truthfully.  Although my bias is due to being harassed with the same insults and flying beer bottles (didn't know they sold PBR in a bottle) that I'm sure those folks get when they come to Greencastle.  And there's actually a place to park within the county line.

You just have to get there a little earlier...for the Bell game, you can find some parking near the stadium if you show up sometime around Thursday afternoon.   

[ACRULZ]

There is a pretty good rivalry up in Michigan as well.  It would be Adrian - Albion.  These schools are only about an hour apart.  They many heated battles in recruiting as well.  But it is not just a football rivalry.  These two schools love to beat each other in ANY sport!

[gordonmann]

Fun story on the Williams/Amherst rivalry.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2945751

I particularly enjoyed the Rubber Chicken story.

[dc_has_been]

I want to add a rivalry that will have their 83rd meeting this year between Defiance College & Bluffton College both in Northwest Ohio about 40 minutes between the two HCAC schools.  As of recently the game is scheduled  the last game of the regular season too. 

[K-Mack]

Cool.

Anything about it that makes it unique, since that length of time and playing at the end of the year is not umatched in Division III?

Those two schools haven't always been HCAC. Have they maintained the rivalry through the conference changes, for instance? (sounds like they have, duh)

[dc_has_been]

K-Mack, We played them my freshman year while we (DC) were independent & obviously picked them back up on the schedule my senior year when we were in the same conference (HCAC). 
I especially like the rivalry b/c of what I alreay mentioned on the location of the two schools & both playing their last regular season game of the year against eachother. 

[Trin8-0]

Everyone knows about the Williams-Amherst rivalry, and rightfully so. That game truly does determine the success of a season for the students and alumni of both schools.

However, more often than not it is the Trinity-Williams game that determines who wins the NESCAC title and therefore has just as much significance (if only to the players/coaches).

Here's a link to a CSTV documentary from the 2005 season in which Trinity played Williams in an attempt to break the New England record for consecutive wins. (At the time the record was held by Willams with 22 wins).

http://www.cstv.com/video/?s=videohub&vid=1274

It's very well done and offers a lot of history and backround information about the rivalry.

[raiderguy]

Trin8-0,

Can you come out and play with the rest of us please?

[ADL70]

CWRU and Wooster contend for the Fish Stringer Saturday.  Spartans might actually be favored to win this year.

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/2581451

http://www.case.edu/athletics/varsity/fall/football/misc/baird%20trophy.htm

[billrt66]

I can promise you one thing.....the rivalry between Hanover and Franklin always played the last game of season for the Victory Bell is as heated as any I can imagine.  For both schools, it is an absolute war!  All of the typical trappings with stealing the Bell, painting the Ben Franklin statue, to having to postpone the game for almost 10 years because it became so heated.  These two teams simpy hate one another and the rivalry, except for the "halt in play" of the early 90's goes back almost a century.  There are thousands of fans that turn out for this game, whether at Franlin or Hanover.....this years game with the retirement of Hanovers coach after a 30 year career there will be at the boiling point....the intensity of this game every year is simply "off the chart"!

[kubiack78]

Pity the Occidental fans don't generally give this rivalry the status you now claim for it.

As I said in my initial response to K-Mack, I think that there is a reason for the perception that you guys have, and part of that has to be driven by Oxy's recent history, which is certainly the focus of our discussions

The reason I said that is because in the early years of ATN, I mentioned it among the great rivalries, probably because of its length and not really having any special knowledge one way or the other beyond what I'd read about the drum and such.

I got feedback saying that it wasn't much of a rivalry at all, and that Pomona-Pitzer considers CMS its rivalry game.

Until I read those messages, I don't really remember ever hearing, on my trips to Oxy or in conversations with Oxy fans, any comments that led me to believe the rivalry was on par with, say, DePauw-Wabash.

Not saying what was said then has to be true and what you're saying today is false, just explaining where I got that perception.

This is the rivalries thread, however, so campaign and explain away.

If I had to rank the rivalries today, based on a formula I am purely making up as I write this (history, tradition, competitiveness, atmosphere and significance to the team, team's season/schedule and alumni), I'd go:

1. Williams-Amherst
2. DePauw-Wabash (could probably meet the criteria for No. 1)
3. Cortland-Ithaca
4. Randolph-Macon / Hampden-Sydney (falling fast due to lack of competitiveness)
5. Monmouth-Knox
6. Union-RPI
7. Hanover-Franklin
8. St. John's-St. Thomas
9. Coe-Cornell
I'd also put up for consideration Coast Guard-Kings Point, Trinity-Wesleyan, CBB and the rest of the NESCAC ones, Wheaton-North Central and I guess either of the Pomona ones.

Probably forgetting a few.

Definitely willing to hear arguments to tweak these rankings. I'm pretty solid on my top 3, and likely on the top 5, but I really didn't give it a lot of thought after that ... just threw something out there to get people talking.

There are other rivalries which are rather lengthy which don't seem to rile up the crowds (Albion-Kalamazoo, Hamline-Macalester) ... and some younger trophy games (Soup Bowl, Regents Cup) which seem to be up and coming.

I'd throw Whitewater- LaCrosse into that top 10 somewhere

[runyr]

John Carroll U vs Baldwin-Wallace College is an intense rivalry.
Eastside vs Westside of Cleveland area means a lot to players and fans of both schools.
http://jcusports.com/Sports/football/2007/CuyGoldBowl.asp

[K-Mack]

Pity the Occidental fans don't generally give this rivalry the status you now claim for it.

As I said in my initial response to K-Mack, I think that there is a reason for the perception that you guys have, and part of that has to be driven by Oxy's recent history, which is certainly the focus of our discussions

The reason I said that is because in the early years of ATN, I mentioned it among the great rivalries, probably because of its length and not really having any special knowledge one way or the other beyond what I'd read about the drum and such.

I got feedback saying that it wasn't much of a rivalry at all, and that Pomona-Pitzer considers CMS its rivalry game.

Until I read those messages, I don't really remember ever hearing, on my trips to Oxy or in conversations with Oxy fans, any comments that led me to believe the rivalry was on par with, say, DePauw-Wabash.

Not saying what was said then has to be true and what you're saying today is false, just explaining where I got that perception.

This is the rivalries thread, however, so campaign and explain away.

If I had to rank the rivalries today, based on a formula I am purely making up as I write this (history, tradition, competitiveness, atmosphere and significance to the team, team's season/schedule and alumni), I'd go:

1. Williams-Amherst
2. DePauw-Wabash (could probably meet the criteria for No. 1)
3. Cortland-Ithaca
4. Randolph-Macon / Hampden-Sydney (falling fast due to lack of competitiveness)
5. Monmouth-Knox
6. Union-RPI
7. Hanover-Franklin
8. St. John's-St. Thomas
9. Coe-Cornell
I'd also put up for consideration Coast Guard-Kings Point, Trinity-Wesleyan, CBB and the rest of the NESCAC ones, Wheaton-North Central and I guess either of the Pomona ones.

Probably forgetting a few.

Definitely willing to hear arguments to tweak these rankings. I'm pretty solid on my top 3, and likely on the top 5, but I really didn't give it a lot of thought after that ... just threw something out there to get people talking.

There are other rivalries which are rather lengthy which don't seem to rile up the crowds (Albion-Kalamazoo, Hamline-Macalester) ... and some younger trophy games (Soup Bowl, Regents Cup) which seem to be up and coming.

I'd throw Whitewater- LaCrosse into that top 10 somewhere

I always got the sense that that was a competitive rivalry, a la Rowan-Montclair, but not necessarily the historical rival in all sports or the team that battles for a lot of the same recruits ... Plus in the D3football.com era, at least the early half, there were no dominant WIAC games because they were basically all important. Only the past few years have I been able to tell there's one game that stands above the others, and even though it looked that way two weeks ago, it looks like the ol' wacky WIAC is back.

One thing all the rivalries mentioned above (plus Moravian-Muhlenberg) have is a level of competition that goes on beyond the field, and beyond Game Week. Sometimes it's some historical milestone, or a trophy, turkey, jug or pair of shoes. Sometimes its competition among alumni and/or the feeling that the certain game can define/salvage a season, no matter how the other games have gone.

These games tend to work best at the end of the regular season, IMHO.

[altor]

About the Defiance/Bluffton game:
I don't know that there is anything that sets it apart from the other rivalries that have been mentioned.  The proximity of the schools is the main reason for the rivalry.  Though in recent years, I believe they have played for "The Hammer."  But hey, not every rivalry can compare to Woody and Bo, right?

According to the NCAA Records book, both schools are playing their 85th season of football.  They will meet for the 83rd time in November, which is an interesting feat, especially when you consider all the conference changes the two schools have gone through over the years...the Hoosier-Buckeye League, the AMC, the HCAC, just to name a few.  Heck, there was even a time not too long ago when they weren't even in the same conference (DC was in the MIAA).

Bluffton did ruin a couple of DC postseason expectations a few years back.  In 2000, DC needed a win to win a share of the conference championship and the AQ.  Bluffton won the game and the share (though they didn't get the AQ).  The next year, DC already had the share and the AQ wrapped up going into rivalry week.  Bluffton upset them again, which was probably the reason DC had to go on the road to Augustana the next week instead of possibly getting a home game.

But, the main reason this game carries a special place in my heart is because I'm a DC grad and my sister is a Bluffton grad, and I know we aren't the only family like that.