by Lance Callihan
3. July 2009 05:05
During the ESPNU College Football Podcast (7/2/09), available on ITunes, the top ten NCAA basketball and football rivalries for the upcoming season were discussed.
Coming in 10th for basketball was Purdue/Michigan. Here is what was said (paraphrased) on the matchup:
Pat Forde: “I’ve got Michigan/Purdue as my number ten rivalry. Largely because I think both teams are on the road to being good. Michigan’s on the road to coming back with Beilein. But also because of the flying elbow of Manny Harris probably lingering on the mind of Purdue fans.”
Andy Katz: “I can buy that, John Beilein’s team got a bad rap last year for flying elbows, he took great offense too. They had multiple incidents, the Zach Novak incident at OSU was definitely flagrant. He was on the free throw line and threw it out. The Manny Harris was more debatable. I do think Michigan and Purdue will be squabbling to get behind MSU in the Big Ten. It will be a highly anticipated game. I saw John Beilein and Matt Painter and I don’t think there’s anything between them and I didn’t see them throwing out elbows at each other.”
Pat Forde: “Both are highly respectable coaches and I believe the fans will be fired up for this matchup.”
As far as the discussion betw. Ivan Maisel and Pat Forde on the OSU/Michigan (ranked 7th) football game this year, the game would be higher if both teams were at their usual standards and only makes the list due to its history.
Accompanying the discussion on the podcast, Pat Forde has two articles on ESPN right now:
- Top Ten College Football Rivalries
- Top Ten College Basketball Rivalries