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Columnist Greg Moore and ASU Insider Michelle Gardner talk about the Territorial Cup match-up with ASU and Arizona.
Arizona Republic

Arizona Republic sports columnist makes the case that his state’s top rivalry is the nation’s best.

 

It’s college football rivalry weekend, and fans across the nation are feuding over which is the best.

From here, the answer’s easy. It’s Arizona-Arizona State, and it’s not up for discussion.

For context, we’ll start with perspective from Jonathan Eig, who’s delved into one of the most famous feuds in all of sports, Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.

“I think it’s one of the great rivalries, and the question is ‘What could we learn about rivalries from that?’” said the author of “Ali: A Life.”

“They were really even,” he said. “The fights were all brutal, and all three of them could have gone either way. That makes it a great rivalry, because they’re well-matched. And then there’s a personal element. … There’s no gimmicks about it. They really seem to have a clash in personalities.”

So, they have to be relatively even? ASU’s record this season is 6-5, 4-4 in Pac-12 play. Arizona is 5-6, 4-4.

And clearly different? ASU’s assistant coaches speak with the media each week for as long as they like, and UA’s coordinators haven’t had a news conference all season.

The Territorial Cup hits those standards, but that doesn’t prove UA-ASU is the best rivalry in college football.

‘Nothing good down there’

There are plenty of contenders.

Out West, Cal-Stanford is a good one. They call it “The Big Game.”

“Big Game?” ASU coach Herm Edwards said. “Never lost to Stanford. Played ’em twice. Never lost to ’em. Always got an interception against Stanford.”

But Coach Herm is an NFL guy, right? What’s he know about college rivalries that could help elevate ASU-UA?

Plenty, it turns out. He’s heard Territorial Cup stories from people who’ve been around. But he’s no snitch.

“I’m not telling their stories,” he said. “Some of ’em you can’t talk about. It’s not a children’s version. Hush-hush.”

Let’s file that under Eig’s “clash” category.

Wonder whether ASU defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, a former player and assistant coach at New Mexico, has any insight?

“The New Mexico State-New Mexico rivalry is a big deal,” he said. “I shouldn’t say bad things about them, because we might play ’em someday. But the town of Las Cruces is no fun to be in, and that’s my opinion, as somebody that was born and raised in Albuquerque.”

The former Lobo went on trash talking the Aggies.

“It was to the point that we would not even stay the night in Las Cruces when we played ’em, because there was nothing good down there,” he said.

Reminds you of how ASU folks drive straight back up to Tempe after games in Tucson, right?   

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An ASU archivist brought the 118-year-old cup back from Tucson on Dec. 1, 2017.
Wochit

‘Man, they’re nuts’

Mississippi State and Ole Miss hate each other so much that they had a brawl on Thanksgiving.

Alabama-Auburn play this weekend. That series is full of craziness. Five years ago, the No. 4 Tigers knocked off the top-ranked Crimson Tide by returning a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown as time expired.  

And of course, there’s Michigan-Ohio State. They play Saturday with College Football Playoff and Big Ten title implications.

Offensive coordinator Rob Likens has some thoughts about those three match-ups. He coached at North Alabama, played at Mississippi State and was raised in northeast Ohio.

“Man, they’re nuts,” he said. “Like in the SEC, I’m telling you.”

As for Michigan-Ohio State, in that feud, “you punch players on the other team in the face. … That’s a joke OK, sorry. But that’s what I grew up on.”

Likens understands rivalries on a visceral level. His son’s name is Cutter — as in Mariano Rivera’s best pitch.

“It’s well documented that I’m a New York Yankees fan,” he said. “When we play the other team, I don’t even say their name … You don’t want to be around me when the Yankees are playing the Red Sox.”

Like how ASU fans refer to UA as “the school down south”?

‘Some high stakes’

Eig knows the Yanks-Sox rivalry, too, having written “The Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig.”

“They play a lot. They’re in the same division,” he said. “So, obviously, there’s some high stakes involved there.” 

He said the rivalry took off when Boston “started to put together some good teams in the ’70s and onward. … Fans were loud and obnoxious, they made it personal.”

UA-ASU hits those standards, as well. They’ve played 91 times since the first meeting in 1899. (UA leads 49-41-1. The Wildcats also hold the edge in Pac-era play 21-18-1.)

Both programs are looking up, as they were in contention for a Pac-12 South title until last week.

As for stakes, UA’s bowl eligibility is on the line. A loss ends the Wildcats’ season.

And of course, none of this proves UA-ASU is the best rivalry in college football.

And of course, nothing could.

Eig helps explain what makes a good rivalry — an even match, high stakes and venom. (He knows nothing of college football, having attended Northwestern.) But what makes a rivalry the “best,” is what makes it matter to you. Your memories. Your schools. Your passion.

We’re passionate about Arizona-Arizona State, and from here that’s good enough.

That’s as good as it gets.

Reach Moore at [email protected] or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @WritingMoore.

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