Column: IU/Purdue rivalry has all necessary ingredients

Some weeks have that certain aura, that certain buzz, which brings a different, sometimes hateful atmosphere to cities or college campuses. Welcome to that week, Bloomington residents, or at least what it should be.

Through the years, and even in recent years, there have been moments defining the IU/Purdue rivalry as one of the most storied across the Midwest sports landscape.

When a rivalry is taken into consideration, there are three main aspects that need to be addressed in this armchair quarterback’s mind.

First, unless it’s some type of series dating back to days of the peach basket, there needs to be some sort of distance factor. It could be a border war, like West Virginia and Pittsburgh’s Backyard Brawl, or an 8-mile bout between North Carolina and Duke taking up the minds of those traveling Tobacco Road. For IU and Purdue, it’s a battle between the northern and southern halves of the state.

Second, who was/is notable and why? Is it in-state football or basketball players staying home and taking their high school rivalries to the next level? Or is it future World Series, NBA or Super Bowl Champions having roots in some of the great games or record books at their respective schools?

What’s neat about this and sometimes pops up in the pro ranks are teammates who went to rival schools or faced off against each other in the rivalry games. If one were to look at the IU/Purdue notebook, you would see the classic story of the 2009 New Orleans Saints, hallmarked by former Hoosier Tracy Porter’s game-winning interception alongside former Purdue quarterback and game MVP Drew Brees. Finally, and probably most importantly for the sake of fans, players and especially recruiting, there is the bragging rights factor. What in the recent series’ history makes the loser hate the winner increasingly until next year rolls around? Rivalries.

The average sports fan need not look far to see that the Hoosiers and Boilermakers pass this litmus test with flying colors.

Location: Not a whole lot to argue or debate here. IU probably has a more consistent following as it relates to men’s basketball on a national level, but a short drive through Indianapolis into the northern part of the state on Interstate 65 will show there is a Boilermaker faithful just as strong and dear as there is in the southern Indiana’s Hoosierland.

Figureheads: Again, not really a whole lot to debate when the big picture is taken into consideration. Here’s a very short, multiple-sport excerpt from a list that would take days to write and tells a long enough story: Bob Knight, Gene Keady, Bill Mallory, Joe Tiller, Mickey Morandini, Bill Allen, Drew Brees, Antwaan Randle El, Calbert Cheaney and Glenn Robinson.

History: The nice thing about rivalries is that they can still possess the same amount of resentment, produce the same amount of publicity and draw the same fan interest if a top two or three ranking isn’t on the line year-in and year-out. With ten Final Fours between the two basketball programs and Big Ten Championship and NCAA Tournament seeding usually taking center stage, IU and Purdue’s basketball rivalry never disappoints. In recent years, a bowl game has often been on the line for both or one of the teams vying for the Old Oaken Bucket.

With that, happy Purdue week.

Even though there is no bowl game, College World Series or top ranking in the basketball polls on the line, this Wednesday’s basketball game and last week’s Big Ten Swimming Championships (in which IU and Purdue both finished in the top five) makes the calendar week a good time to pay attention to a great interstate battle.
It’s a rivalry, so let’s treat it as such.