While there’s a segment of the population that will emit a collective groan at that fact (“Again? Aren’t they on every week?”), the television ratings will bear out once again that it is a wise choice on the part of the Worldwide Leader.
The ingredients for big ratings in this case are two perennially successful teams, two big markets and two franchises that historically don’t care for each other. The end result is a viewership number that averages about 40 percent higher than that for any other matchup during the year.
The good news for Yankees and Red Sox fans is that neither of those teams figures to leave the American League for perceived greener pastures in the near future. The same has not been the case in college football.
Conference realignment has done in some of the sport’s best-known and most passionate rivalries. The fact that Texas and Texas A&M no longer play might have been unimaginable five years ago. Today, it’s just one of many signature games that have fallen by the wayside.
We understand that rivalries can’t be forced on a fanbase. They have to grow organically. So what it is that makes two teams and their respective fanbases come to dislike each other, to the point where the rest of the nation takes notice?
Geography helps. If two opposing teams are in the same general area, then it’s natural for their supporters to interact on a regular basis. The players went to high school together. Fans of the two teams work together. Alumni of both schools might be found in the same family. And it becomes easy for fans of the visiting team to invade the home team’s stadium.
The schools are usually similar in scope. When two institutions are striving for the same objective, it’s easy to perceive that one is standing in the way of the other. That feeds animosity, which can manifest itself on the football field.
Something happens to trigger hard feelings. Maybe an overzealous group of undergrads steal the opponent’s mascot. Maybe an on-field incident left hard feelings. Maybe a controversial call skewed a result.
In the American Athletic Conference, there are a few matchups that have the potential to blossom into full-fledged grudge matches. Perhaps the most obvious example is with the league’s two Sunshine State members, USF and UCF.
They pass the geography test, situated about 70 minutes apart via Interstate 4 in Florida. Hard feelings came about when USF was admitted to the Big East for the 2005 season, while UCF felt it should have been included as well, if not instead. And the fact that USF has won all four previous matchups makes this year’s game the main event of the year in Orlando.
UConn and Temple doesn’t necessarily come to mind as a great rivalry, but the Huskies and Owls have some history between them. Temple felt it was denied a win in 2007, when a reverse pass that was caught in the end zone and would have put the Owls ahead with 40 seconds left was ruled out of bounds. The sting remained in Philadelphia for the next year, as evidenced by the video Temple produced to build up the rematch. But the Huskies came away with an overtime win at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Owls returned the favor with a win in 2010 and stunned the Huskies last year by rallying for a 17-14 overtime victory at Rentschler Field.
In Texas, Houston and SMU have fashioned a rivalry that dates to 1975, though both schools might count a nonconference opponent as their primary rivals. Houston and Rice battle for the city’s bragging rights each year, while SMU and TCU have battled for the Iron Skillet for a number of years. But that doesn’t mean that the annual conference matchup between the schools won’t have high stakes. Houston had won six in a row against the Mustangs, but SMU scored a wild 72-42 decision last year in Dallas.
The most unusual series among American Athletic Conference members is between SMU and Temple. The schools have played twice, yet neither team has a win against the other. The teams played to a 6-6 tie in 1942 and battled to a 7-7 stalemate in 1946.
There are eight conference matchups on this year’s schedule between teams that have never faced each other. There are three other sets of teams that have not played each other previously, and won’t this year either. But with the eight first-time matchups, maybe something will happen that will linger with one or both of the schools. Maybe the seed will be planted for the 2014 rematch. And maybe that will make next year’s game appointment viewing.
Except if the Yankees and Red Sox are on.