For years in Indiana, fans have rolled out their grills, worn star players’ names across their backs as if it were a signature item and drenched themselves in body paint to cheer on their favorite teams. When rival state teams take the field or court, it ignites the ultimate fan frenzy.
Whatever the sport, there is a deep passion within the heart of each true Hoosier fan who believes their team deserves the victory.
Following are some of sports’ biggest rivalries in Indiana:
Indiana University v. Purdue University
While these teams may share much in common, such as being large, public universities with Big Ten status, they have some key differences that make them natural born enemies. Of course, Indiana University is based in the southern part of the state in Bloomington, Purdue in West Lafayette to the north. The schools are known for different educational programs as well, with Purdue famed for science, IU noted for liberal arts and medicine.
The school’s basketball teams first met in 1901. Purdue dominated in those early years. In 1940, Indiana took home the victory during the NCAA Championship and the fight has been underway ever since. Fan fever intensified across all sports in 2001 when the Titan Series was created. It was later renamed the Crimson and Gold Cup in 2004 and is now referred to as the Indiana National Guard Governor’s Cup.
Indiana Pacers v. Chicago Bulls
Being in the same division, it’s hard for these two teams to not become natural born enemies in the NBA especially in the era when there were legends like Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller on the court. The teams met for the first time in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. During the 2013 basketball season when the Pacers ruled the Central Division, Chicago Bulls point guard, Derrick Rose stated that there was no rivalry between the teams. Pacers George Hill fired back with this response: “I don’t know how (Rose) can say we’re not rivals yet because we’ve been just as successful as they have been. But all I know right now is we’re the Central Division champions and for them, they have to come through us to get that. But if that’s what he believes, then that’s what he believes.”
Purdue University v. The University of Notre Dame
The Purdue Boilermakers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish first met in 1896 and has faced one another annually since 1946. Each year, fans eagerly anticipated the game of these in-state rivalry teams, but much has changed over the past few months. Purdue recently announced their decision to cancel annual games with the Irish in the future. Some Irish fans say there is no rivalry due to their lead in all games played and often refer to the Boilermakers as the “Spoilermakers.” Over 50,000 people showed up to the last game held at Lucas Oil Stadium, where it is now said that the teams won’t meet again until 2020.
