Texans ineptitude notwithstanding, how about Texans-Titans? I have a feeling that is going to be quite a rivalry. Watch for the thread in the coming weeks... Or Texans-Cowboys. NFL doesnt really have the rivalries because teams dont dominate for decades, there is too much parity. Teams will have inevitable periods of sucking. Whereas in college something like Miami-Florida or UT-OK will almost always be a good game.
There are plenty of rivalries in the NFL and most are intra-division and some are not and some have recently been developed.
Wow! If that's the way you feel then that's the way you feel. I guess the NFL is not for everybody. LOL all you want. Steelers/Browns, Steelers/Bengals, Browns/Bengals, Bears/Packers, Packers/Vikings, Cowboys/Eagles, Cowboys/Redskins, Cowboys/Giants, Giants/Redskins, Giants/Eagles, Pats/Jets, Pats/Colts, every AFC West game and there are more. Hope that's enough. Much like college football, many of these rivalries are of limited interest nationally but some generate national interest every year. I hate to say this but no team in the NFL would come close to considering the Texans as a rival. Perhaps only the Jags because we've upset them so many times. I know some hard core Steelers, Browns, Bears, Eagles, Cowboys and Chiefs fans and those annual home and away rivalries mean everything to them.
A nice little list indeed. But no of those rivalries come close to Michigan/Ohio St., Texas/BloU, Texas/A&M, Albamma/Auburn, ND/USC hell enen Clemson/So. Carolina.
If you want to give the edge to college football in the rivalries category I'm fine with that. I guess the fact that a frat boy from one college took a dump on the front porch of a frat boy from another college back at the turn of the century makes a sport more significant.
I've never seen anything like this in college football: top five team in the country losing in the opening week AT HOME to a Division I-AA program. Unbelievable. Lloyd Carr might as well start clearing the office out right now.
OK fine, but most people outside of Texas don't give a flip about UT/A&M and the same principle applies to the Iron Bowl and Clemson/So. Carolina. Nowadays, only Michigan/Ohio State, UT/OU and a very few other games have great national pull. I admit the local/regional flames of some college football programs way overshadow the NFL. But on a national basis, the NFL beats college football hands down. There is nothing in the USA that captivates the sports culture like the weekly NFL Sundays, the non-stop discussions about it on Mondays and the NFL playoffs. If college football hadn't created (seems like) 300 bowl games with a bunch of 6-5 teams along with the BCS, I would take it a lot more seriously. This has tarnished and diminished college football big time. For me, there was a time when it was almost equal but while the NFL made it's rush towards parity (which I like), college football has almost lost it's way and thrives in spite of what the NCAA has done. I know many disagree but that's my 2 cents.
Michigan is ranked #5 in the country before they even play a game and then they lose to a 1-AA team. Teams should have to play 3-4 games before any rankings come out. It's ridiculous.
They absolutely mean something. It's difficult for a team not in the initial top 15-20 to make a climb into championship contention. And if they do, they end up behind all the other undefeated teams that started the season higher. Every season, when a No. 1 or No. 2 team wins a tight game, you'll see dozens of sportswriters talking about how it's not fair to punish a team when they get it done and win games. The problem with that mentality, of course, is that they didn't earn the initial ranking -- it was arbitrarily handed to them via initial rankings before games were played!
Good points. Remember a few years ago when Auburn started ranked in the teens maybe even the low 20s? They went undefeated, through the SEC no less, and still ended up being ranked 3rd and outside of the championship game. The initial rankings are very important, according to where teams end up in the long run.
That was a freak year as well as a low for the SEC. And in all honesty, Auburn should consider themselves lucky for not getting a taste of USC. Just ask Sooner fan. If Auburn goes undefeated this year they get a shot at the MNC even though they're ranked in the high teens.
Baloney! Championships should be determined on the field and Auburn didn't get their fair chance because of the pitiful BCS. Until they institute a 4 or 8 team playoff, or at the least create a +1 bowl game, Division 1A college football is a joke compared to the NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball and even the other college football divisions. With the creation of the BCS, Division 1A football soiled itself and refuses to change the diaper.
