What is your favorite rivalry matchup?

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toma0045

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My favorite was always Minnesota vs. Michigan. They’re always a measuring stick program, and it was a very sweet victory anytime we could beat them. Love the jug!
 

the Axe is very important to me. Oddly enough, I view it more as a friendly rivalry just based on the fact my sister went to UW and I enjoyed my time visiting her in Madison. Floyd is the hated rivalry to me. I despise watching Iowa win and I yearn to have that damn pig back
 

I know the Ax, the Jug, the Pig and the Bell are important, but let's not forget our newest rivalry, the Syracuse Orange. The hatred has grown to a fever pitch and the rich pageantry over the years makes this a game for the ages.

The boys will be in for a tough scrap in a couple weeks and I just hope they have enough in the tanks to take this one home. There really should be a trophy for this game, something larger than our other trophies because this IS the big one.

If we can just win this one game I will go to my grave someday a happy man - forget the Vikings in the Super Bowl or the Wild winning the cup. They pale in comparison to Syracuse - the REAL "mistake by the lake!"
 


This is what I love about the Gopherhole—you guys always make me laugh. The level of snark shared here is top shelf.
As for my choice (and it’s a tough one, as I appreciate the tradition and history of all but the bell, which seemed too contrived when it began) it has to be the Axe. I live across the border and most of my neighbors are obnoxious Skunk fans.
I met the two neighbors on either side of us out by the mailbox a week ago and told them I needed to clear some trees on our lot and wondered if I could borrow an axe from one of them…then said, “oh, that’s right, you’re the wrong guys to ask. You haven’t had an axe for years now!”
 


toma0045 said:
My favorite was always Minnesota vs. Michigan. They’re always a measuring stick program, and it was a very sweet victory anytime we could beat them. Love the jug!
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Me too.
 

toma0045 said:
My favorite was always Minnesota vs. Michigan. They’re always a measuring stick program, and it was a very sweet victory anytime we could beat them. Love the jug!
Click to expand...

Thought your favorite was with The University of Chicago.:unsure:
 


Has to be Wisconsin. I love the Axe, but it doesn't stop there, since Minnesota plays Wisconsin in so many more ways. It's a border battle in more ways than one, and I want Minnesota to win every time.

On top of also playing the Badgers in hockey and basketball, I want the Vikings to beat the Packers, the Timberwolves to beat the Bucks and the Twins to beat the Brewers.
 



Gold Rush said:
I know the Ax, the Jug, the Pig and the Bell are important, but let's not forget our newest rivalry, the Syracuse Orange. The hatred has grown to a fever pitch and the rich pageantry over the years makes this a game for the ages.

The boys will be in for a tough scrap in a couple weeks and I just hope they have enough in the tanks to take this one home. There really should be a trophy for this game, something larger than our other trophies because this IS the big one.

If we can just win this one game I will go to my grave someday a happy man - forget the Vikings in the Super Bowl or the Wild winning the cup. They pale in comparison to Syracuse - the REAL "mistake by the lake!"
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Need to call this the Orange Bowl. Then it really gets the chili hot.

But the Axe is mine mostly because it's the longest played game in college football.
 

Wisconsin easily. Mainly because it carries over to the Vikings/Packers, Twins/Brewers, I can't stand Badger basketball, etc. I wish I could say Iowa but it is only for a week during football season. I really want to say Nebraska as well, but their fans are just too nice to not like.
 

Gold Rush said:
I know the Ax, the Jug, the Pig and the Bell are important, but let's not forget our newest rivalry, the Syracuse Orange. The hatred has grown to a fever pitch and the rich pageantry over the years makes this a game for the ages.

The boys will be in for a tough scrap in a couple weeks and I just hope they have enough in the tanks to take this one home. There really should be a trophy for this game, something larger than our other trophies because this IS the big one.

If we can just win this one game I will go to my grave someday a happy man - forget the Vikings in the Super Bowl or the Wild winning the cup. They pale in comparison to Syracuse - the REAL "mistake by the lake!"
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Honestly, you joke, but I kinda want revenge on Syracuse for the 2013 bowl game. Still doesn't sit right with me. I remember seeing that game and then going to the movie theater after, and just kind of being bitter the whole time.

Interestingly enough, in a week span the Gophers will play Syracuse and the Vikings will play the Giants, so a double Minnesota Vs. New York saga coming up.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Wisconsin easily. Mainly because it carries over to the Vikings/Packers, Twins/Brewers, I can't stand Badger basketball, etc. I wish I could say Iowa but it is only for a week during football season. I really want to say Nebraska as well, but their fans are just too nice to not like.
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Yes, I guess for me it’s the time I grew up. The Packers and Badgers were so mediocre a 20-30 year period, they felt like Northwestern, or the Detroit Lions to me. Okay, they’re awful, who cares, was the way I grew up. That of course has been different for the last 30 years, but I’m locked into the memory of Wisconsin and Green Bay being pathetic teams. That’s why I always looked forward to the Michigan games.
 



Iceland12 said:
Thought your favorite was with The University of Chicago.:unsure:
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The University of Chicago is one $250 million donor away from taking over that city. The original monsters of the midway back in action in FBS. It would be amazing.
 

Wisconsin for sure. Mostly due to proximity and how many wisco grads/fans have moved into the Twin Cities looking for work. Plus we also play them in hockey, which Iowa doesn't have.

I would also say it partially has to do with the fans. While the Iowa fans that visit here for games are a little bit "unrefined", I would say most of the Iowa fans I come across that live here are very polite and good-natured about the rivalry. Wisconsin fans as a group come off as a lot more arrogant.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Honestly, you joke, but I kinda want revenge on Syracuse for the 2013 bowl game. Still doesn't sit right with me. I remember seeing that game and then going to the movie theater after, and just kind of being bitter the whole time.

Interestingly enough, in a week span the Gophers will play Syracuse and the Vikings will play the Giants, so a double Minnesota Vs. New York saga coming up.
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Me too!!! Fleck seems to take these bowl games seriously and has done pretty well in them. I still think the Outback Bowl win over Auburn was the best-coached game he and his staff has done here and I really liked the playcalling on both sides. Since it's the last game of the year it can really help end the season on a high note and give the program a little momentum heading into next season.

Some might not think these bowl games mean too much but here we are talking about the 2013 bowl game 9 years later!
 

My favorite Gopher rivalry? Seems like a backwards way of asking which school do I hate the most!

But I’ll play.

5. Governor’s Bell - contrived and forced against a team we don’t play that often. They were doing the right thing when they broke it!

4. Bits of Broken Chair - will never get the press of the big 3 but it was fan created and raises money for great causes! Has potential if the game could be bigger and it gets a sideline piece on GameDay.

3. The Jug - My original favorite. Problem is games haven’t been too competitive for a while and they own the jug by a wide margin.

1B. The Axe - Freaking hate Wisconsin and the Axe is awesome! Games have been close and the rivalry is tied after that long Badger winning streak. Always a season highlight and 50% of a successful season!

1A. Floyd - So many more reasons to hate Iowa. Remember them blacking out our stadium for years with their obnoxious fans. We really need to beat these guys and soon! Who hates Iowa?

Non-football:
UND - Hockey against the the Fighting Sioux was freaking awesome. Minnesota vs Cañada when I was in school! Loved beating Gino Gasperini and his teams. The games were super intense, would love to see UND in the B1G for hockey.
 

1. Michigan
2. Wisconsin
3. Iowa
4. Nebraska
5. Any other P5 In-State Rivals
 

I was a little kid in Nebraska as a Gopher fan in the heyday of the Tom Osborne 80s

Beating them is still special after my earliest football memories were the Gophers being absolutely destroyed by Big Red. I've been taught to dislike wisconsin and iowa, but I was born wanting to crush nebraska. The awesome Chair trophy makes it even better.
 

The Axe the last 20 years or so, before that the Pig. Funny how eras change rivalry perception. Talked to Tom Moe years ago, who told me during his era, Iowa was the far bigger rival than Wisconsin.
 

1A. Wisconsin (though Iowa is closing in on 1A)
1B. Iowa
3. Nebraska
...........

10. Michigan, though they aren't really a relevant rival any more with that game only being played every two to three years and Michigan totally dominating the series.
 


1. Michigan. I remember the 60s teams. We were great football. I want to own Michigan.
2. The Axe. Wisconsin.
3. The Pig. We have to end the Curse of Floyd.
4. Nebraska and PSU are just another game to me.
What I really want is is the be Notre Dame’s most dreaded rival.
I don’t desire the decline of any of these teams. I want the Sleeping Giant Gopher to rise to the top.
 

I would support a pod of the Gophers, Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Feed the Huskers to the West Coast teams. PSU to tOSU.
A 20 team conference with 4 pods. Shorten the regular season one game with. 4 team playoff. Also piles and piles of Minnesota NIL $$$.
 

UMSantaCruz-BananaGophers said:
the Axe is very important to me. Oddly enough, I view it more as a friendly rivalry just based on the fact my sister went to UW and I enjoyed my time visiting her in Madison. Floyd is the hated rivalry to me. I despise watching Iowa win and I yearn to have that damn pig back
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Flip that for me! I only really 'hate' Iowa athletics for 1 day a year. Michigan is more of a barometer game for me. Beat them, and I know we have a solid team.
 



Hates Monikers said:
I've never considered Michigan a rival. In my 57 years, we've almost never been competitive with them; I can't believe they consider us a rival. But for me, Nebraska has quickly jumped to a tie for second with Iowa, behind Wisconsin.
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Same. I think Hockey is what solidifies Wisconsin's status for me. Well that and working with some reversible jacket Badger fans from border towns.
 


Growing up I always looked forward to playing for the JUG the most. When the schedules were published in the newspaper that's always where my attention immediately went.

I view Wisconsin as our biggest rival, followed closely by Iowa but the JUG is the trophy I covet the most.
 

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