What’s the most intense and passion-filled week in college basketball? Rivalry week. And it just so happens to be this week.
Rivalry week is where college hoops fans across the nation come out to play. You get to see people’s true colors. Fans bring out their team’s colors across the nation because they make it their duty to make it known where they stand when their biggest rival comes to town. If you weren’t aware of what fandom someone subscribed to before, you will know come rivalry week.
This is a week where the fans feel just as much a part of the game as their favorite players. Rivalry week presents the opportunity for fan bases to battle it out as well. Every fan base makes it their mission to not only support their team, but also to diss the other fans they hate the most.
There is just something special about rivalry week. You can almost feel the intensity in the air. In Bowling Green, plenty of Michigan and Ohio State fans can be spotted around campus. You can see the dirty looks exchanged between the two fan bases as they come across one another walking around or hear the banter between them as they bicker about the heated rivalry over lunch.
When discussing rivalry week, it’s nearly impossible not to bring up the Duke and North Carolina rivalry. Not only is it arguably the best rivalry in college basketball, it is in the conversation of being one of the best rivalries across all sports. Both Blue Devil and Tar Heel fans cringe upon seeing that opposite shade of blue.
Anyone brave enough to wear a Toledo shirt this week, beware. Although the UT-BG rivalry is not playing during rivalry week, the two Mid-American Conference foes are set to matchup next week. With the upcoming game and rivalry week igniting the fire under college basketball fans, Falcons are sure to call out those wearing a Rockets shirt on BG’s campus.
These types of interactions obviously can take place year round for some fans, but all tension escalates during this week. That is the power of rivalry week; it brings out the crazy in fans across the nation.
Fans pack the stands, creating atmospheres unlike any other game of the season. Others take to television to see their team take the court, bringing in the most watchers of any game of the season.
Rivalry week is a week where if you are a fan of the game, you can most likely tune in to ESPN every night to see two arch rivals duke it out. The quality of the matchups is unlike any other week.
This is quite possibly the most exciting aspect of the week because you are nearly guaranteed a must-see game every night, whether it’s your team or not.
Aside from March Madness, when else are you guaranteed thrilling games each and every time two teams take the court?
