Just finished watching the Gators win another close one (go gators) but it made me think. Who decided that UT was their rival?? Does it change each year? I figured UT vs UK would be a rival. Just curious.
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Just finished watching the Gators win another close one (go gators) but it made me think. Who decided that UT was their rival?? Does it change each year? I figured UT vs UK would be a rival. Just curious.
IMO, Geography or History (long-term or recent) sets the rivalry.
Kentucky vs Tennessee is a border war.
Tennessee vs Florida is a case where recent history has seen both of those teams on top of the SEC East sparring with each other for position...plus, there's probably some spill-over from Football there too...
I think split is right about georgraphy and history. Another factor that sometimes creates a rivalry is a recent history of close games.Louisville and Marquette rarely played back in the day, but when both joined Conference USA they had some classic games. Double and triple ot's and last second shots. Now the fans of both schools look at it as a big rivalry because of the crazy way the games go when the two play each other.
Plus, Louisville has beaten Marquette at home on last second three pointers three times in recent years. Reece Gaines long three, a couple of years later Francisco Garcia did it to them and then just a couple of years ago Jerry Smith hit one at the buzzer.
I think the games themselves make teams rivals. Early on, Arkansas was the new kid on the block and tried to knock off UK and these 2 teams had some really good games.
Duke is a rival for sure of UK just because of "The Laettner" Shot
Uk / Louisville, UK / IU, UK / Tennessee for obvious reasons.
This being said if Auburn became the dominant team in the SEC, then their rival with UK would be "it".