Some Rivalry Notes

On the eve of the Mocs annual showdown with ETSU, it is an interesting time to look at the Mocs rivals.

The Mocs biggest problem at the moment is that they do not really have rivals in the Southern Conference. Appalachian State might be as close as they come, due to the fact that the share a division with them, and have a long standing history of having tough battles against good Mountaineer teams.

But, that doesn't get the blood going.

Fans still hate Marshall. But they have not played the Thundering Herd since December of 2007, in an unmemorable 57-47 win. (Now their second to last meeting in the SoCon Final on March 2, 1997, was a very memorable 71-70 OT win. Chris Mims with the putback! YES!) So, it is really hard to call them a rival anymore.

Some fans hate Davidson, but I have a hard time getting riled up about the game. I personally am beginning to dislike Elon because the Phoenix always seem to beat us when I least expect it. Samford is clearly our future rival, with their proximity to the Mocs geographically, but it is hard to really not like them yet.

College of Charleston is our current biggest conference rival probably. People, including me, really dislike the Cougars, and the feeling seems to be fairly mutual. The Cougars are 12-10 all-time against the Mocs, so it is hard to really get too excited yet about this rivalry, because they don't play twice a year every year and they just haven't been playing for long enough.

That leaves us with ETSU. It's not a conference game, and they only play once a year, and it is early in the year. Still, this may be the biggest rival the Mocs have anymore. The Mocs lead the all-time series 41-32.

The blood still gets boiling for me when the Bucs show up on the schedule. I do not like the Bucs. I miss having them as a real rival. One day, maybe Samford will take their place. I sure hope so. Because nothing gets me going like a rivalry game!

GO MOCS!