Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

Ask any college student about the rivalry between their school and its arch nemesis, and they’ll tell you it’s gone on for-ev-errrr. While it may seem that way to most, to students at Lafayette College and Lehigh University, the seeming eternity of their rivalry is the closest approximation to truth in American college sports. Having met one another for 144 times in football since 1884 (only one year after standardized rules for the game were established), their rivalry is the most played in college football history. Still going at it after all these years, the annual game is often sold out months in advance. But you don’t have to travel to eastern Pennsylvania, where these schools are located, to learn more about “The Rivalry”– we’ve got the scoop!

1. Mascot Match-up

Lafayette: If you find yourself in Easton, PA, you’ll be quickly accustomed to all of the Lafayette Leopard pride. Go Leopards!
Lehigh: Lehigh athletics were known as the Engineers up until 1995, when the decision to assign a mascot, the Mountain Hawks, was made. Only last year, in 2008, was the Mountain Hawk given a name: Clutch!

Three credits to: Gotta go with Lafayette. How can you cheer for a team for hundreds of years without a mascot? Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

This week begins the World Series, the premier sporting championship in the nation (at least in my opinion–why have one night of the Superbowl when you can have at least four nights of nail-biting, crowd-rousing suspense?). While the world obsesses over the current New York-Philadelphia rivalry, let’s take a look at another – between Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.  The only two Ivy League schools with truly urban campuses, Columbia and UPenn are champion institutions themselves. But who will come out on top? Best of five wins…

1. Mascot Matchup

Columbia- Don some baby-blue and white to cheer on the Lions, so named for the university’s heritage as King’s College (referring to the King of England, whose coat of arms portrays a lion).
UPenn- The Penn Quakers pay homage to the Society of Friends (aka the Quakers), the religious affiliation of the settlers of Pennsylvania. The largest Quaker-fest occurs each spring at Penn Relays, a prestigious and historic track-and-field event attracting students from high schools and colleges across the country.

Three credits to: UPenn. How could you not love a team named the Quakers? Who doesn’t love oatmeal? Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

I live in New York, where suddenly it has gotten really. effing. cold.  (I wore my winter coat and a scowl over the weekend.)  So naturally I’ve been dreaming of what life would have been like had I gone to school in a more temperate climate where you can tailgate in tank tops and flip flops.  Such is the way things go in the Sunshine State, where the University of Florida and Florida State University have, quite literally, one of the hottest rivalries around.

1. Mascot Match-up

Florida – Call them Gator Nation, Gator Country, even Alberta and Albert (who won Sports Illustrated On Campus’ Best Mascot award); the Florida Gators are more than just a local species.
Florida State – The Florida State Seminoles, named for the Native Americans who first inhabited the area, are perhaps most famous for their war chant, which is among the most immediately recognizable songs in all of sports culture.

Three credits to: Hands-down, it’s Florida State. It’s the college chant at it’s absolute finest (and so simple, even babies can sing it)! Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

Put on yer best Midwest accent, serve up some hot dish, and grab yer mittens, because this week we’re taking a look at two of the nation’s premier state schools who rival each other in just about everything–but especially hockey. The University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and the University of Wisconsin–Madison are both members of the Big Ten conference and the northern region, where hockey is the recreational sport of choice. Can one of these schools score a hat trick?

1. Mascot Match-up

Minnesota- Goldy Gopher, the leader of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, has led fans in cheering for twenty-four NCAA  titles, five of which were won for hockey!
Wisconsin-The Wisconsin Badgers have won twenty-six NCAA titles, six of which were for men’s hockey. However, the men’s boxing team has won the most of any Wisconsin sport, with eight national titles.

Three credits to:  Wisconsin. Cuz they’d beat the crap out of me if I didn’t say that. Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

Let’s travel to the Midwest, where the people are friendly, the food is hearty, and the state school rivalries are relentlessly combative. In the great state of Indiana, two state school systems (Indiana University and Purdue University) are so entrenched in a battle for loyalty that many homes boast signs in their windows reading “A House Divided”–or in other words, the domain has both Purdue and IU alumni.  Can one school win the rights to true Hoosier pride?

1. Mascot Match-up

Indiana – The Hoosiers are not only the university mascot but the state nickname–a term for someone who transports bales of cotton.  Though a derogatory word in other parts of the country, a Hoosier is a label of pride in Indiana!
Purdue – The Boilermakers get their moniker from the longstanding tradition of excellence in engineering at Purdue, which in the 1890s (at the time of the mascot’s inception) meant toiling in the forge room to boil and meld metal.

Three credits to: Indiana, since it takes some balls to claim a questionable slang term for a school (and state) nickname! Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

This week, we take a look at the opponents in the nation’s most notorious holy war–no, not the mission in Iraq, but the rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, America’s premier Catholic universities.  Besides giving mad props to the Pope, these two institutions share a common interest in superior athletics, academics, and intense fan-dom. The Holy War refers to the quasi-annual football game between the schools (the only Catholic universities to play NCAA D1-A ball), and the fierce competitiveness between the two. Let the pillaging begin!

1. Mascot Matchup

BC – The Golden Eagles can be seen emblazoned on every Superfan shirt and bumper-sticker in Beantown.
Notre Dame - South Bend, Indiana is home to the famed Fighting Irish–the mascot championed in media from The West Wing (President Bartlet was an alum) to the football film classic, Rudy.

Three credits to: Notre Dame (extra points for high media recognition).

2. Holy War Stats

BC - has won 9 out of 18 games.
Notre Dame - has also won 9 games!

Three Credits to: It’s a tie! Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

When you think of school spirit, it’s customary to think of stadiums awash in school colors, spine-tingling chants, and deep-seated hatred for the rival school’s (obviously) inferior traditions. But in Texas, “spirit” comprises all that and more. This week, while we examine the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University- College Station, we learn of traditions and campus lore as large as the Lone Star State itself.  In a world of hand signals, slang, and centuries-old cheering teams, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry pervades all nuances of life.

1. Mascot Matchup

Texas- Bevo the Longhorn, a particularly menacing-looking brand of cattle, is the pride of UT. The school’s colors, white and burnt orange, are an homage to Bevo’s hide.  Bevo has made the rounds at several important functions, including the inauguration of President George W.  Bush. Should you ever find yourself in conversation with someone from UT, say “Hook ‘em, horns!” and flash the Longhorn hand signal.
Texas A&M- The Aggies–short for agriculture, as per the school’s name–also have a catchphrase and hand signal. It’s commonplace in College Station to sign off by saying “Gig ‘em!” and giving the thumbs-up.  Their official mascot is an American collie named Reveille, who is addressed by the student body as “Miss Reveille, ma’am,” since she is considered a Cadet General in the Aggie cadets.

Three credits to: Texas, where Bevo has the presidential seal of approval. Read More »