Learn about the top five current college basketball rivalries
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| Braden: Top 5 Current College Basketball Rivalries. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the top 5 current college basketball rivalries. |
| Ann: We thought this was an important one because we did a lesson on NBA riverlries but college basketball is very important as well. |
| Braden: And depending on who you ask, even more important, and better. |
| Ann: That's right! We did a lot of research on these and talk to a lot of expert on this lesson. |
| Braden: And even though we like basketball, we don’t know everything and we wanted to give you a great lesson, so we got some help. |
| Ann: Now, these are colleges and universities, so especially if you are unfamiliar with US colleges, it might take a bit of research to know where are these colleges are and why the regional rivalry are so important. |
| Braden: And just to get you hooked, our number one rivalry might just surprise you. |
| Ann: Okay, so number five in our top five current college basketball rivalries is Syracuse Oranges versus the Georgetown Hoyas. |
| Braden: How did this one get so heated? Well, it probably has something to do with the Hoyas shocking come-from-behind victory over the Orange in their very last game at Syracuse's old Manley Field House. |
| Ann: When the Georgetown coach says, "The Manley Field House is officially closed!" over the microphone to the fans in attendance, you're probably going to get some angry people. |
| Braden: Number four in our top five current college basketball rivalries is the Cincinnati Bearcats versus the Xavier musketeers. |
| Ann: Many people didn't notice how intense this rivalry was until it erupted into a brawl on the court in 2011. |
| Braden: The two schools, both located in Cincinnati, have been pushing and shoving both on and off the court for years. |
| Ann: After every player on both teams came off the bench to fight and a grand total of nearly 30 game suspensions were awarded. Three of the players received 6 suspensions each. |
| Braden: They were pretty angry. Number three in our top five current college basketball rivalries is the Kentucky Wildcats versus the Louisville Cardinals. |
| Ann: This rivalry is much like the Cincinnati/Xavier rivalry except instead of being "cross-town" it's "cross-state." It isn't as old as some of the others but it's pretty awesome. |
| Braden: These two teams face off not only in the regular season but also in the regional "Battle for the Bluegrass" which is a Kentucky state championship. |
| Ann: Neither of us live there but while surfing around on the Internet I found one article with a shirt that says "Louisville doesn't exist." That's how little they care for each other. |
| Braden: Number two in our top five card college basketball rivalries is Duke versus North Carolina. |
| Ann: Now, we're not college basketball specialists so for these last two we've had to differ to some people who know a lot more about this than we do. |
| Braden: If you were to watch ESPN or just regular television during March, you'd think the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina was the rivalry to end all rivalries. |
| Ann: I certainly did. |
| Braden: So did I! But after speaking with a number of basketball specialists, there is a better one but we'll get to that in a second. |
| Ann: The Duke vs. North Carolina rivalry certainly is awesome. Those two teams are both old and have been playing each other for decades. |
| Braden: They are both in the top 20 teams in the country. One or the other is always in the top 10 teams in the country. |
| Ann: Here’s he best part, they are in the same town and 8 miles apart. Lots of tension and pride here and their games are awesome to watch. |
| Braden: But our number one spot is even better. |
| Ann: Number one in our top five current college Basketball rivalry is the Kansas Jayhawks and versus the Missouri Tigers. |
| Braden: Why is this one number 1? Duke and North Carolina are better teams but these two school absolutely hate each other. |
| Ann: In a rivalry, that's the most important part! The rivalry is so strong that statistics don't matter anymore. |
| Braden: One site reported that Kansas and Missouri have played each other a total of 265 games and that Kansas has won 171 of them. |
| Ann: Statistically, that's a pretty big difference. But Missouri doesn't care. They are still better than Kansas, right? |
| Braden: In 2011, both teams were in the top 10 and Missouri actually beat Kansas both times that season. |
| Ann: This rivalry is so strong that even though Missouri is changing college basketball leagues, they will probably still find a way to put "friendly" inter-collegiate games on their schedule. |
| Braden: "Friendly." Well, that just about does it for today. Thanks for listening! |
| Ann: Have a great day! |
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