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Is St. Bonaventure a bigger rival than VCU?


BLIKNS

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Safe to say we all hate Dayton,  since Shaka left have the Bonnies  moved up a notch on rivalry???  

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33 minutes ago, slu72 said:

I’ve grown to dislike the Bonnies, but I’ll bet the team our guys are licking their chops to beat this season is Duquesne. Still can’t figure out how much they had our number last year. 

I bet they are, as they should. But one season doesn’t make them a rival imo 

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14 hours ago, BLIKNS said:

Safe to say we all hate Dayton,  since Shaka left have the Bonnies  moved up a notch on rivalry???  

It’s so sweet when we beat Bonaventure. Second only to Dayton when it comes to misguided fan base on Twitter. For the fans I think it’s easily Bonas. Don’t think the players would think that way though. Duq is more likely there as I know there’s some jawing that goes on during those games - I think it all goes back to the Isabell/Williams shootout a couple years back.

 

side note- how terrible would it be for the best player in recent program history to just transfer out??? That’s when you know a program is truly small-time.

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Still VCU because I root for the Bonnies when we are not playing them.

The VCU fans come on this site and post non-sense while the Bonnie fans are respectful. A good Bonnie fan @brownindians has posted respectfully on this site for years.

When we beat VCU I enjoy because I just don’t like them.

When we beat the Bonnies I enjoy it because we beat a tough well coached team that I respect.

I hope that VCU, Dayton, Duquesne, Bonnies, Richmond, and Davidson are good teams each season for the strength of the A10.

Happy Friday

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Frankly, I don't see VCU as a top, in-your-face rival for us right now.  From a similar culture kind of view, I'd go Dayton, St. Joe's, the Bonnies, Richmond and even Duquesne ahead of VCU.  I think VCU is an outlier as are Rhode Island and Umass.  I don't want anyone to leave the A10 (short of Fordham and La Salle) but as far as rivals are concerned, I don't see it.  Now, do I get up for that game?  I get up for all the games.  I have seen enough down time in this program that gloating is not an option.

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I really dislike Davidson. But don’t consider them a rival. I think they never look all that great on paper, and then we get our ass handed to us. McKillop is a good coach who gets a couple of good players and surrounds them with a bunch of smart players who he coaches very well. 

 

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1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

Frankly, I don't see VCU as a top, in-your-face rival for us right now.  From a similar culture kind of view, I'd go Dayton, St. Joe's, the Bonnies, Richmond and even Duquesne ahead of VCU.  I think VCU is an outlier as are Rhode Island and Umass.  I don't want anyone to leave the A10 (short of Fordham and La Salle) but as far as rivals are concerned, I don't see it.  Now, do I get up for that game?  I get up for all the games.  I have seen enough down time in this program that gloating is not an option.

VCU has been a top rival the entire time they've been in the conference.  Until this past season, they owned us. We had lost five straight.  Kicking their butt back in February was the highlight of 2020 for me.

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Sure was.  However that and the recent history doesn't make me see them as that much of a rival right now.  They have been the team to beat for the most part as we climbed out of [dead] mediocrity but I see 'rival' like Army/Navy, Stanford/Cal, Michigan/Ohio State.  I just don't see that with VCU.  I could also see it in the old days with opponents like Butler, Xavier, Marquette and even Carbondale.  VCU is just not there for me.

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26 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Sure was.  However that and the recent history doesn't make me see them as that much of a rival right now.  They have been the team to beat for the most part as we climbed out of [dead] mediocrity but I see 'rival' like Army/Navy, Stanford/Cal, Michigan/Ohio State.  I just don't see that with VCU.  I could also see it in the old days with opponents like Butler, Xavier, Marquette and even Carbondale.  VCU is just not there for me.

In other words, they're not close enough.

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Physically, no but that doesn't really drive the train for me.  It plays a part but not the overriding factor.  Miami and Notre Dame used to hate each other in football.  Ditto Notre Dame and USC.  Granted, it is tougher to maintain the intensity of a rival if you're not in each other general vicinity or even hobnob with the opposing team members by chance at local events and the like.  Does Gonzaga have a natural rival?  Maybe St. Mary's?  We all know about Tobacco Road.  However, there is very little rivalry between Villanova and Penn State.  Or even Pitt now that they are in the ACC.  It was Nova and Georgetown as some historians might note.  

I think VCU will fill our house a lot quicker than say Duquesne or the Bonnies in part because that is based on a short national attention span and their having been to a Final Four.  VCU went to such in 2011; meaning even the most senior of seniors were like 12 or 13 years old then.  Do they even remember?  Mason went in 2006, making those same seniors  7 or 8 years old.  Rhoades and VCU stand on a precipice right now ...... which way will it go?  

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Opinion:

For me a rivalry has to be more or less equal on both sides.  One side can say there is a rivalry, but if the majority on the other side doesn't care, then it is one sided and for me not a rivalry.  We all agree, on this board, that Dayton is our biggest rival in the A10.  I wonder what the fan base in Dayton says.  Who do they feel is their primary rival in the A10?

I also like it when the rival is within travel distance.  Olean NY is not within easy travel distance, so I don't feel any extra passion for that game.  Besides alumni who reside in NY, how many Billiken fans attend a St. Bonnie v SLU game in NY.  You know VCU holds Richmond as their chief rival. Nothing says you can't have multiple rivals, but I doubt if many VCU fans would list SLU among their top 3.

SIUC for sure would fall into my definition of a rivalry.  SW MO would too, if we ever resume play.  Being the farthest western outpost in the A10 impacts rivalry development.  Butler could have grown into an intense rivalry, but that story has been told.  

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Dayton saw Xavier as its biggest rival but X-ites turn their noses up at Dayton the same way Mizzou treats us. Right now, just by the very fact of the Arch Baron Cup, we are likely it for Dayton in the A10 although I don't think either side sees it as a rivalry in the deepest sense of the word.

Georgetown doesn't play GeeDubya or Mason and is even rare with local UMd.  Rumor has it that X  will never agree to accepting Dayton in the Big East, should that boat ever sail again.  Rumor also has it that Marquette is no fan of YouDee.  

I agree with HP.  I also think like-minded institutions make for better rivals but locally all we have in D1 are Mizzou, MO State, and  SIUC and that's stretching it.  UMKC and SIUE aren't even close.

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Face it our real rivalry is the one that will never happen. No game/team would ever stir the pot quite like that one would. So, UD will have to do year in and year out. I would think UD fans feel the same about us. If, going forward, we can both maintain high performance programs the rivalry will only grow. As an example, if we had got the opportunity to meet them last March in the tourney and beat them, UD fans would have gone nutso. We gave them two of their toughest games last year and I’m sure UD fans took notice. If this continues the hatred will only grow. 

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10 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

Opinion:

For me a rivalry has to be more or less equal on both sides.  One side can say there is a rivalry, but if the majority on the other side doesn't care, then it is one sided and for me not a rivalry.  We all agree, on this board, that Dayton is our biggest rival in the A10.  I wonder what the fan base in Dayton says.  Who do they feel is their primary rival in the A10?

I also like it when the rival is within travel distance.  Olean NY is not within easy travel distance, so I don't feel any extra passion for that game.  Besides alumni who reside in NY, how many Billiken fans attend a St. Bonnie v SLU game in NY.  You know VCU holds Richmond as their chief rival. Nothing says you can't have multiple rivals, but I doubt if many VCU fans would list SLU among their top 3.

SIUC for sure would fall into my definition of a rivalry.  SW MO would too, if we ever resume play.  Being the farthest western outpost in the A10 impacts rivalry development.  Butler could have grown into an intense rivalry, but that story has been told.  

Well said.

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I do not consider St Bona a rival. If we were not in the A10 (or vice versa) we would not play them (or just very infrequent). Also, other than Catholic, we have nothing in common with them. They are far away and a small rural school. We are large urban school.

The only 2 I consider rivals is Dayton and SIUC. We have long histories of playing each other annually. When we were CUSA we still played UD. Both schools have had glory years-UD has had a lot more. Also attendance seems to trend up when we have these schools at home. Playing them always brings a sense of excitement that is lacking when we play a LaSalle or a GW. 

I agree, Butler & Xavier could have been if the stayed in the A10.

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1 hour ago, tarheelbilliken said:

I do not consider St Bona a rival. If we were not in the A10 (or vice versa) we would not play them (or just very infrequent). Also, other than Catholic, we have nothing in common with them. They are far away and a small rural school. We are large urban school.

The only 2 I consider rivals is Dayton and SIUC. We have long histories of playing each other annually. When we were CUSA we still played UD. Both schools have had glory years-UD has had a lot more. Also attendance seems to trend up when we have these schools at home. Playing them always brings a sense of excitement that is lacking when we play a LaSalle or a GW. 

I agree, Butler & Xavier could have been if the stayed in the A10.

I understand the whole geography and school demographics argument and that certainly applies most of the time. But rivalries are also a product of circumstances.  From the mid 1990s until the time they left the conference, Duke's most intense games outside of UNC were against Maryland.  

The most important factor in any rivalry is whether the teams have a history of playing great basketball games.  Organically, that level of competition tends to arise between nearby schools.  But it can occasionally happen between schools that don't have much in common.

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To all of my Billiken friends, I have come to join your campfire and I have brought my Peace Pipe for us to enjoy!

As all of you Historians know we are the " Keepers of the Western Gate " . And will continue that honor - PC Police back-off. 

As for rivals - let me put it this way - you guys don't think your poop stinks and nothing feels better than making you come to Otterville, only to go back home crying to your Mommies. OR when our Braves return victorius  and your fans have lef the game at half-time. "Shades of Tyler Ralph"

Your team comes to town and they are treated with respect until they take the court. Over the years your team has carried a few players that have made very racist comments to the fans at the game. SOO fowl that I will not repeat them here. He really should have done a couple of laps around the Rosary Beads for what he said!

To COMPTON - people in glass houses should not throw stones. The SLU campus is located in such a lovely area of St Louis. This is where drive-by shootings occur on a nightly basis. Ya the Great Olean area is not a BIG CITY and that is why we all get along. 

We are David and you are Goliath

2020

 

 

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