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Dumb question from an outsider fan of your great program

It would be like South Carolina playing Clemson. Tons of bragging rights. It has kind of evolved into ISU trying to ruin the Iowa season with a win vs Iowa trying to go undefeated. ISU hasn't had many winning seasons over the last 25yrs so they don't have alot to look forward to short of a black eye for other teams.
It also has been traditionally expected by the state leaders that this matchup contjnue.
The BIG schedule over the years is pretty full once you get the OOC games played and the league is so tough teams like to keep their bye week open to catch a physical break during the season.
 
Minnesota is my favorite rivalry game because it has a cool and significant history. I get more satisfaction out of beating Nebraska than maybe any other team because I live in Nebraska and have to deal with their fans on a day-to-day basis. Maybe it would be ISU if I lived in Iowa. The Wisconsin game is typically one of the more entertaining games simply because the two teams are so much alike.
 
Iowa-Iowa State is best compared to North Carolina-East Carolina or something along those lines. Clearly inferior program whose fans brag about big attendance or enrollment numbers, and a perceived sense of equality since they have strung together a number of lucky wins, but ultimately they have no idea what a quality football team is.
 
Guess it depends on what part of the state you grew up in. For me I always hated Wisconsin growing up in Dubuque area. Also I'm a Bear fan so hate The Packers. Wife is from Mason City so she hates Minnesota. Most western Iowa people don't care for the Huskers.
 
In the future Nebraska, but I'd say there's acouple more big ten teams I consider more of a rival. Iowa State fans consider us their biggest rival. I'd rank them around 3rd,4th for me Imo. Btw you seem to bring good luck to us keep it up! Good luck to South Carolina this week tough test! Btw are we your second favorite team? Always wondered that.
 
Guess it depends on what part of the state you grew up in. For me I always hated Wisconsin growing up in Dubuque area. Also I'm a Bear fan so hate The Packers. Wife is from Mason City so she hates Minnesota. Most western Iowa people don't care for the Huskers.

This....Iowa is a strange bird in that regard. People from western Iowa feel a rivalry with Nebraska, but we really haven't played them enough, especially in games with strong meaning, to have a rivalry there. There's potential here if we maintain a relatively even W/L record with them and have a few games that decide the west division. Right now it's forced with a trophy that has no significance.

ISU should be a natural rivalry, but ISU has historically been so bad that it's just not there. As one poster above said, it's devolved into them trying to play spoiler on our season only to tank the rest of the way. People from central Iowa feel a strong sense of rivalry with ISU though.

Minnesota is a long standing rivalry and we all know how much they hate Iowa...enough to chant "who hates Iowa? we hate Iowa" at pretty much every game (not just when playing Iowa). This one should probably be the main one due to some of the history, but I've never felt it.

Wisconsin has always been the team I feel a rivalry with, but that's most likely because I'm from far eastern Iowa. This series is incredibly close over the entire duration and the teams are generally closely matched. To me it's the natural rivalry for those reasons.
 
Iowa state is the team we have to beat or we're just pissed off that we lost.

Minnesota clearly hates us, but without the trophy, it wouldn't stand out that much as a game. I live in Iowa and work in Minnesota, and nobody there talks about or seems very aware of gophers or cfb.

Nebraska has been rubbing western Iowans the wrong way for decades, but the matchup is young.

For me, being from NE Iowa, the clear answer is Wisconsin. Hate them.
 
It is early in the season because, unlike the SEC or ACC, I believe you have to get permission from the Big Ten league office to schedule a non-conference game after the start of conference play in week 4.
 
Guess it depends on what part of the state you grew up in. For me I always hated Wisconsin growing up in Dubuque area. Also I'm a Bear fan so hate The Packers. Wife is from Mason City so she hates Minnesota. Most western Iowa people don't care for the Huskers.


And those of us that grew up in eastern Iowa really hate Illannoy.
 
In the future Nebraska, but I'd say there's acouple more big ten teams I consider more of a rival. Iowa State fans consider us their biggest rival. I'd rank them around 3rd,4th for me Imo. Btw you seem to bring good luck to us keep it up! Good luck to South Carolina this week tough test! Btw are we your second favorite team? Always wondered that.


Iowa with out a doubt my second favorite team . Even with you guys crushed SC in the 2009 Outback Back Bowl your fans was first class and was great to tailgate with . Plus you guys got some good looking ladies at Iowa . They were laughing at my southern draw .But it was all in fun ..
 
IMO- Iowa has a bunch of rivalries. It's the nature of the Big 10. Not a lot separates 3 through 9.

1a, 1b Minnesota and Wisconsin - hands down from a competitive and historical perspective.

3 Michigan State - historically nip and tuck...too bad realignment derailed an annual awesome game

4a, 4b, 4c. Iowa State for statewide entertainment and it pits two conferences, kind of a statewide festival. They dislike Iowa more than Iowa dislikes them. Michigan is a game the team and university has gotten amped up over for DECADES...beat them = pretty good year and in the Rose Bowl hunt, a historical barometer. Ohio State - same reason as Michigan...an anticipated game and you cherish and celebrate RARE victories

7. Nebraska. Proximity, two good to great programs. Looks like two perennial challengers in the west....even in the mediocre years for each team. Will be an interloper in the Big 10 for decades though.

8 Penn State - Great games. Drives them nuts when Iowa wins, which it does more often than not. Same as Nebraska though....still a stepchild for even after 25 years of conference membership. Big Ten drips in tradition.

9a, 9b Illinois- lots of true hate. suspended series for a while because of it. Bordering state. Northwestern - a johnny come lately annoyance. tough game the past 15-20 years, and their dislike for Iowa elevates the attentiveness to this game each year.

11. Purdue and Indiana
 
Big Ten teams typically play their non conference games at the beginning of the year and start conference play after that. You may see an odd in season OOC game because of a funky bye week for some other team, but Iowa has typically approached it as OOC=preseason then B1G=regular season. With the playoff system things may change but in the past it really didn't matter what the results of the first 4 games were (other than bowl eligibility) but the results in the last 8 determined everything. Win the conference and everything will sort itself out.

I guess you can call the match up a rivalry game. It is now, but in the Hayden days it was just the in state game that Iowa won 15 years in a row.

They also didn't play from 1934 until 1977. So there isn't that historical significance, but just pretty much in my lifetime.
 
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Guess it depends on what part of the state you grew up in. For me I always hated Wisconsin growing up in Dubuque area. Also I'm a Bear fan so hate The Packers. Wife is from Mason City so she hates Minnesota. Most western Iowa people don't care for the Huskers.

This is probably the most correct answer. For me growing up in eastern Iowa it was the cheating Illini that I hated the most.
 
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Iowa state is the team we have to beat or we're just pissed off that we lost.

Minnesota clearly hates us, but without the trophy, it wouldn't stand out that much as a game. I live in Iowa and work in Minnesota, and nobody there talks about or seems very aware of gophers or cfb.

Nebraska has been rubbing western Iowans the wrong way for decades, but the matchup is young.

For me, being from NE Iowa, the clear answer is Wisconsin. Hate them.

There are a lot of Iowa fans from Illinois too, Quad Cities area.
 
I'll go with the "depends on where you live in Iowa" answer. Eastern Iowa is more about Wisconsin and Illinois. Northern Iowa, and I would probably say most of Iowa because I feel this way too, it's the Gophers. Love beating them, hurts to lose to them. For Western Iowans it is no doubt Nebraska. Iowa fans in the east are starting to get it, western Iowans have known this for decades as the Cold War raged with Husker fans over here, Nebraska will be our #1 rival for all Iowans in 10 years or less. I just know it. After that I would say our traditional Big Ten rivals would fall into an order along the lines of scUM, MSU, OSU, PSU, jNW, PU, Indiana then the newcomers Mary, and Rutgers.

ISU, not a rival. Many of us would love the series to be dropped. ISU is a crap program, one of the worst in the history of college football. Just because they are in-state we are stuck with having to play them. If they went away tomorrow it would be a relief because then we could schedule some real OOC opponents that would help our national image and strength of schedule. Instead we're stuck playing in a game "the ISU Super Bowl" where we have everything to lose and nothing to win. Conversely, if ISU happens to win their fans consider the season a success and the team can tank the rest of the season, like they always do. It's a one game season for them.
 
For me living in central Iowa it is still Minnesota that I want to see lose every game they play. Outside of the gophers, I would rather beat these teams in the following order.

Nebraska
Iowa state
Wisconsin
Illinois

It totally depends where you grew up and what experiences you've had visiting other stadiums. Ie. I have been treated horribly in Minneapolis but awesome in Madison.
 
Iowa with out a doubt my second favorite team . Even with you guys crushed SC in the 2009 Outback Back Bowl your fans was first class and was great to tailgate with . Plus you guys got some good looking ladies at Iowa . They were laughing at my southern draw .But it was all in fun ..

You need to come up for a game sometime. I felt the same way about SC fans at the time. Many visited this board and, almost universally, were interested to talking football and the match ups without all the stupid trash talking. I was impressed. I've been an SC fan ever since.

edited to add: Oh, and I hate Clemson since then too!
 
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Iowa state game is a forced game. If Iowa wins, no one pays attention and it is just considered the way it is supposed to be. If ISU win it basically can really hurt the season. Its a no win situation.. It is definitely ISU's biggest game each year. I would say for me it is now Nebby or Wisconsin.
 
I hate Minnesota
I hate Nebraska
I hate Wisconsin
I hate Illinois
I hate Purdue
I hate Indiana
I hate Michigan State
I hate Michigan
I hate Ohio State
I hate Ped State
I hate Maryland
I don't care about Rutgers
I just can't hate Northwestern but I'm getting close.
 
You need to come up for a game sometime. I felt the same way about SC fans at the time. Many visited this board and, almost universally, were interested to talking football and the match ups without all the stupid trash talking. I was impressed. I've been an SC fan ever since.

edited to add: Oh, and I hate Clemson since then too!

Agreed, the South Carolina fans are great. They are the team I pull for in the SEC.
 
My order of hatered:
1) Nebby- Fans in person are great-Posters are pathetic
2) ISU- Respect their fans, bc claiming being a fan for a pathetic team takes some commitment
3) Minny- They hate us more than we hate them bc....well we are actually relevant
4) Michigan (moving up quickly-Harbaugh is a Douche!)
5) NW (moving down bc we haven't been losing lately to them, Pat's butthurt for Iowa is funny)
6) Big 12- Seriously not a good conference
7) SEC- Overrated (but best conference late 10+ years, not looking like the case this year)
8) Illinois- Border state
9) Missouri- Remember when they cowardly didn't play us
Honorable mention
Wisconsin, MSU, OSU- Hate but respect each program
 
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You need to come up for a game sometime. I felt the same way about SC fans at the time. Many visited this board and, almost universally, were interested to talking football and the match ups without all the stupid trash talking. I was impressed. I've been an SC fan ever since.

edited to add: Oh, and I hate Clemson since then too!


I would love to go Kinnick Stadium 1 time but I don,t know about November games . brrr. That is 1 of my bucket list things to do and a Green Bay game, sorry Qued 18 .But I do like Alshon Jeffery former Gamecock ,
 
The Big Ten has some under the radar games that have become really entertaining over the last half decade.

Wisconsin vs Iowa is always great television.
Michigan State vs Ohio State/Wisconsin is too.
Nebraska and Iowa is getting there....

Rivalry or not, I fail to understand the appeal of Iowa vs Minnesota/Iowa State, so my vote is Wisconsin.
 
And those of us that grew up in eastern Iowa really hate Illannoy.

Agreed, but Illinois has been, on average, so bad the last 20 years or so that you can't find many illini fans around anymore.

I kinda miss the ignorant slobs...
 
Ronan - that is an awesome comparison. The only things I would add, is first the big brother wins the rest of his 21 games against people his own age or older while little brother loses the rest of his games to kids regardless of age some of whom are younger. Second, at Thanksgivng dinner when little brother is at the kiddie table and big brother at the adult table (metaphor to bowl games), little brother is still chirping about that one 21 game win months earlier.
 
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I hate Minnesota
I hate Nebraska
I hate Wisconsin
I hate Illinois
I hate Purdue
I hate Indiana
I hate Michigan State
I hate Michigan
I hate Ohio State
I hate Ped State
I hate Maryland
I don't care about Rutgers
I just can't hate Northwestern but I'm getting close.

LOL. Love this. Glad to see hating the Gooofers on top!!
 
I think the correct answer, as illustrated in this thread, is that Iowa doesnt really have a prime rival. Not in the traditional sense at least.

If I had to annoint one it would be Wisconsin or MSU. As Marc Morehouse says these programs are polars bears fighting for the same peice of ice. That is who we are competing with in regards to B1G pecking order.
 
As someone mentioned, this is very geographical. If you were to poll Hawkeye fans based on where they lived in the state, it would probably go something like this:

Southeast Iowa - Illinois
Northeast Iowa - Wisconsin
North Iowa - Minnesota
Western Iowa - Nebraska
Central and Southern Iowa - Iowa State
 
Our rivals our geographically based.

Wisconsin-NE and is usually a good game period.
Minnesota-northern and Old Timers. Oldest trophy game and only one that doesn't feel made up.
Nebraska-Western Iowans those on the Eastern side just look at this as a game vs. a good program.
Iowa State-Des Moines and Casual fans. ISU hates us more then we do them.
 
Iowa State would be a much bigger game for Iowa if they were ever any good. Right now I think the biggest rival is Minnesota or Wosconsin. Nebraska will get there in time.

Agree.
Wisky meets rivalry criteria. Nearby, long history, both teams have been good at times over the recent past(20 years), each team with a big win/spoiler win over the other.
Nebraska can get there, series too new at this point. Minny is close, but they have just not been good enough over the past 2 decades.
 
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