Who are your school's biggest rivals?

[BelmontBoulevardier]

I'm late to this particular thread (I'm still not used to checking this board regularly), but Belmont's traditional rival has been and always will be Lipscomb. I was lucky enough to play in the Battle of the Boulevard multiple times during it's heyday when we used to sell out 15k seat Memorial Gym for it. There is not much that will touch two schools that are separated by 2 miles and are on the same road. On top of that, for a couple of decades Belmont and Lipscomb were each regularly in the Top 5 nationally in the NAIA and would often face each other 4+ times per year counting post-season tournaments. 1n 1989 Lipscomb set the all time record for wins in a season with 41(!), Belmont lost 7 games that year, 5 were to Lipscomb (we did beat them once). Can you imagine?

Fortunately Belmont has dominated that rivalry for the past 10 years and will more than likely continue to as our program continues to grow.

In modern history are real rival in practical application in Murray State. It's an incredibly even matchup (I think Belmont leads the series 12-10) that usually decides the conference championship. It's a blast and I can't wait to see it continue to grow in the MVC.

[BEARZ77]

I don't think any coaching staffs disliked each other as much as Cheryl Burnett and Tony DiCecco back in the day.

Actually, it was far more so for Darryl Smith at WSU. He was always hitting on one of our assistants among other things that didn't set well with Cheryl.

[BCPanther]

I know we've got TV partners to satisfy so it's probably unrealistic but I'd love to see the league do a rivalry Saturday at some point in the league calendar every year and stagger the starts so that you could watch 6 great Valley rivalry games on one day.

11:00-Evanville-Indiana State
1:00-Valpo-UIC
3:00-SIU-Missouri State
5:00-Bradley-Illinois State
7:00-Belmont-Murray
9:00-UNI-Drake

What an awesome day of basketball and you could tweak some matchups every year too to accommodate SIU and Missouri State since they aren't exactly rivals but also not exactly primary rivals for others.

[RacerJoeD]

That would be pretty awesome

[tribecalledquest]

I don't think any coaching staffs disliked each other as much as Cheryl Burnett and Tony DiCecco back in the day.

Actually, it was far more so for Darryl Smith at WSU. He was always hitting on one of our assistants among other things that didn't set well with Cheryl.

Now there is a blast from the past - Darryl Smith. He challenged me and a friend to a fight outside Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse when I was a student. What a piece of work.

[smidge34]

I know we've got TV partners to satisfy so it's probably unrealistic but I'd love to see the league do a rivalry Saturday at some point in the league calendar every year and stagger the starts so that you could watch 6 great Valley rivalry games on one day.

11:00-Evanville-Indiana State
1:00-Valpo-UIC
3:00-SIU-Missouri State
5:00-Bradley-Illinois State
7:00-Belmont-Murray
9:00-UNI-Drake

What an awesome day of basketball and you could tweak some matchups every year too to accommodate SIU and Missouri State since they aren't exactly rivals but also not exactly primary rivals for others.

Now somebody do the current OVC lol. Man what an upgrade on everything including the quality of games season ticket holders will get treated to for their money next season.

[Campbellproud]

I know we've got TV partners to satisfy so it's probably unrealistic but I'd love to see the league do a rivalry Saturday at some point in the league calendar every year and stagger the starts so that you could watch 6 great Valley rivalry games on one day.

11:00-Evanville-Indiana State
1:00-Valpo-UIC
3:00-SIU-Missouri State
5:00-Bradley-Illinois State
7:00-Belmont-Murray
9:00-UNI-Drake

What an awesome day of basketball and you could tweak some matchups every year too to accommodate SIU and Missouri State since they aren't exactly rivals but also not exactly primary rivals for others.

That would be sweet.

[Adunk33]

I would have to guess Illinois State-Bradley is the most widely known rivalry in the conference among casual MVC fans. It seems recently (last 5-7 years or so) the rivalry has lost some steam.

I see this due to competitiveness- neither team being good at the same time, and continuity of rosters. I can speak especially on the Birds side of things, they've been lucky to keep players 3 years lately. So when rosters are made up of freshmen, sophomores, and two year transfers, it's tough for the players to develop that "hatred" for the other team. Coaches can talk about the rivalry and what it means but its on the players to go out with the fight needed. The first half, Bradley took it to the Birds. The second half, the Birds took it to Bradley. It feels like if both teams can keep their players around a couple more years, this game could be a solid jumping off point to reignite the rivalry.

Kendall Lewis was before the BU game what he knows about Bradley and his response was simple, "We hate em. That's really all you need to know."

As far as "flash in the pan" rivalries. The Birds have had them with several of the teams in the conference in recent memory. I could be a little off on years here but it seemed in like 08-10 UNI was a big rival because of how good they were and the match ups at the Arch. Same with Creighton in 11/12. The from 13-17 (especially 15-17) it was Wichita State. Those teams HATED each other because the coaches despised one another. It probably started with Muller signing Dana Ford as his associate HC off of Wichita State's staff. If memory serves, Marshall and Ford had a "handshake agreement" that he'd be at WSU for a certain amount of time. Then when a promotion opened up at Ford's alma mater, he jumped at it. Who could blame him? Marshall did. A part of that transition, Ford also brought along WSU commit, Teddy Hawkins. That didn't sit well with Marshall or WSU fans. Makes sense.

There's a ton of events that transpired over the years that built and built and it accumulated with the 2017 Arch Madness final. Both teams were 17-1 in conference play with only losses to each other. The Birds, as they do on Sundays at the Arch, lost. There was another game in STL in 2015 where the Birds upset them when they were ranked at No. 8. At Arch Madness, the winning team does press first. I believe this is the year Marshall stormed in, turned over the Redbird name plates and claimed the conference wanted a chance for 3 teams to get in to the NCAAs and the officials hosed them.

There were stories of Muller and Marshall nearly coming to blows on a couple occasions. There was the infamous "Jackie Carmichael Kick" where he secured what would've been a game-winning rebound but did a Rodman-esk leg extension that caught Tekele Cotton's chest. After a lengthy monitor review, Jackie got a T, Wichita State made both, and won by 1. You'll never guess what official was involved....

I believe what officially closed the book on the Marshall-Muller saga is the first year Wichita left and made the NCAA Tournament and lost their first round game. Muller tweeted something to the effect of, "Oh, so I guess going to a new conference doesn't magically make you better." A few years later Marshall got canned at it seems Wichita is regretting the move to the AAC.

In recent memory, ILST-Wichita was the most heated I've seen a rivalry get in the league. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully some more tension will grow soon with the expansion.

[Bluejay09Bear06]

I attended two MVC schools (well, one obviously isn't in the MVC anymore but they were when I attended) so I've got a pretty unique perspective. I'm a long-time fan of this conference but I've finally concluded that, with the possible exception of the War on 74, there haven't been long term, sustained rivalries in this league over the last few decades. To be sure, there have been extremely intense, short-term rivalries based on the ebbs and flows of program success.

Probably the greatest all-time rivalry in the modern era of this league was Creighton-Wichita State from about 2009 when Booker Woodfox hit that shot against Wichita at Arch Madness until Creighton left in 2013. The success of those programs during that period propelled them into other leagues and it ceased to be an MVC rivalry (or a rivalry at all, as the two programs have yet to schedule each other OOC as members of different conferences and both programs still hate each other). Creighton-Wichita State was a great rivalry because it had the trappings of almost a mid-major Duke-UNC rivalry (private school in close proximity to a public school in the same conference).

Prior to that, SIU-Creighton was the flagship MVC rivalry because Wichita State hadn't experienced its basketball renaissance yet and SIU hoops was very good in those days. The rivalry was so intense and well-publicized ESPN College Gameday broadcast from Carbondale on a frigid Saturday when Creighton came to town. I believe this was in 2008.

Drake-Loyola is now emerging as a premiere rivalry in the league, no doubt because they have been the two most consistent programs over the last few years. UNI has been a team for a long time now that most teams want to beat because Ben is the mayor of this league and UNI has been extremely consistent for a very long time, but I'm not sure UNI has developed a sustained, heated rivalry. Drake appears to be a good candidate given their proximity, the public/private dynamic that fuels some of the best rivalries in college hoops, and Loyola's impending departure from the MVC.

Missouri State has always been somewhat of a geographic outlier in the post-Tulsa MVC makeup (and is now becoming an institutional outlier with the exception of Illinois State), and we have never developed a particularly strong MVC rival. SIU and Wichita State were probably the closest, but Wichita State started lapping us after Cuonzo left, and SIU hired Barry Hinson so both programs nosedived at about the same time, which seems to have snuffed out the rivalry.

Bottom line is that rivalries are somewhat flexible in this league. We're a league that values good basketball so we're quick to adopt new rivalries. Murray State and Belmont are terrific programs and I'm excited to see some new rivalries develop with the newcomers.

[Milanmiracle]

Valpo vs the University Board of Directors?

Joking, kind of…

I hope Valpo vs UIC can become an actual rival vs a proximity opponent.

Valpo’s main rival was Butler, but beyond the non scholly football, the feeling was not mutual. It’s why they haven’t played since leaving the conference.