Saturday Roundtable: Football Rivals

Welcome to the Saturday Roundtable, where I send a question to the staff and report their answers.

The folks over at the Champaign Room recently wrote a post that Purdue and Illinois in football is heating up into a more intense rivalry. Given we already play for a trophy and we hired away their DC I tend to agree. What Big Ten team, other than IU, would you consider a rival for Purdue in football? Which team do you relish beating the most?

Jumbo Heroes:

Listen, I know we already have a rivalry with Illinois because of the Cannon, so I’m pushing them away here. If you listen to the Boiler Alert podcast, which you definitely should, you’ll know that I have a special hatred in my hear for Nebraska football. I just could not stand Scott Frost and in general I find their fans to be overwhelmingly awful when I’ve had dealings with them online. That’s not to say that you, Nebraska fan reading this, are a bad person, no YOU? you’re great. It’s those other people that are ruining your good name.

So of course other than IU I’m going to choose them. They’ve just got this superiority complex despite never really having done anything in the last 20 years or more. It just gets to me. Seeing them lose always brings a little extra joy to my day.

Ryan:

I also agree with the Champaign Room writers that Purdue and IU are football rivals (the rivalry is even more intense if you count basketball). I don’t think there is any other team that rivals the rivalries of IU or Illinois for Purdue. The closest to those two might be Iowa as the series has been competitive over recent years, but it’s not in the same ballpark.

As far as relishing over a victory, it comes down to which program do I dislike most and which program represents the biggest challenge for Purdue. Has it been great that Purdue was able to secure victories over the helpless Scott Frost Huskers? Yes, but do I relish the fact that Purdue has the most victories over Ohio State since 2000? 100%. I think I enjoy the Ohio State victories more than Nebraska and IU just because of the mountain top that the Buckeyes represent this century. There is one victory available that will be the sweetest when it occurs, however. When Purdue finally beats those GD Badgers: instant euphoria. But for now, we have to wait.

Gabi:

Illinois is a good answer especially if Walters stays and builds the program more. They also have one of the most intolerable fan bases on social media so they are easy to hate. It seems most Purdue fans relish beating OSU the most but they’d never really be a rival considering their program is on a different level. I’d like to find an out of conference rival, Louisville being the obvious answer.