Great Sports Rivalries
The Greatest Rivalries in American Sports - By the Numbers
Rivals
This site is dedicated to a statistical look at the greatest rivalries in sports - or at least those in North America. Nothing really compares to the passion of various soccer (or should I say football) rivalries around the globe. Much has been written about the great moments in these match-ups, so I am focusing more on an empirical look at the rivalries.
I first created Dodgers-Giants.com but decided to expand the scope and start this site.
Red Sox vs. Yankees has been the greatest rivalry of the new century and one of the better ones of the last century. What it lacks in competitive balance it makes up for in passion.
Dodgers vs. Giants is the most balanced baseball rivalry in both competitiveness and greatness, though its intensity is not on par with Sox-Yanks and it has not been as good recently.
Michigan vs. Ohio State is the greatest rivalry in college football, a sport that provides the most great rivalries. Almost every year "The Game" determines the Big Ten champion - and often impacts the National Championship.
UCLA vs. USC is the greatest collegiate rivalry matching the top two athletic departments in the country. The various teams at these schools annually rank among the best in nearly every NCAA sport.
Celtics vs. Lakers is the NBA's best rivalry and the best championship rivalry in sports. But the rivalry's three phases alone (the '60s, '80s, and late 2000s) would not qualify as truly great. I am using the Celtics-Lakers stage to also look at the two greatest one-on-one rivalries in team sports history: Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson and Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain.
I first created Dodgers-Giants.com but decided to expand the scope and start this site.
Red Sox vs. Yankees has been the greatest rivalry of the new century and one of the better ones of the last century. What it lacks in competitive balance it makes up for in passion.
Dodgers vs. Giants is the most balanced baseball rivalry in both competitiveness and greatness, though its intensity is not on par with Sox-Yanks and it has not been as good recently.
Michigan vs. Ohio State is the greatest rivalry in college football, a sport that provides the most great rivalries. Almost every year "The Game" determines the Big Ten champion - and often impacts the National Championship.
UCLA vs. USC is the greatest collegiate rivalry matching the top two athletic departments in the country. The various teams at these schools annually rank among the best in nearly every NCAA sport.
Celtics vs. Lakers is the NBA's best rivalry and the best championship rivalry in sports. But the rivalry's three phases alone (the '60s, '80s, and late 2000s) would not qualify as truly great. I am using the Celtics-Lakers stage to also look at the two greatest one-on-one rivalries in team sports history: Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson and Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain.
