The Great College Match-Up, Part 1

As we chug along through the spring and summer, I recently began to realize just how much I miss college sports. I began to ponder my love for college football and basketball, and thought about the similarities in the two sports. Specifically, the fact that each powerhouse program in basketball has a corresponding twin in football. When I started writing them down I wound up with quite a long list, as almost every school has a mirror-image in the opposite sport. So I decided to make this the blog's first "research project" and I'm breaking it up into two (possibly more) installments.

UCLA BBALL = NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL
Each school has won the most national titles in their respective sport. Each live under the shadow of their past glories, be it Alcindor, Walton and Wooden or the Four Horsemen. And over the past decade neither school has been able to live up to the lofty expectations of its alumni.

DUKE BBALL = MIAMI FOOTBALL
Each school has been the most successful program over the past 20 years. They get the best recruits and send a ton of players to the pros. And because of all this, they are hated from coast to coast.

KANSAS BBALL = MICHIGAN FOOTBALL
These programs have been top-tier for over a century, as each school has the most wins in their respective sport. However, both schools have underachieved when it comes to winning titles. Kansas has over 2500 wins but only 2 titles. The Wolverines were dominant early on but have only one title in the last 50 years. Doesn't it always seem like these schools usually start the season ranked about 15, rise a little bit mid way, but then wind up at 15 again?

ARIZONA BBALL = FLORIDA ST. FOOTBALL
Legendary coaches have had these programs at the top of their sport for ages. FSU ended up in the Top 5 for the entire 1990s while Arizona seems to make the Final Four once every three years. And each school's players do really well in the pros.

KENTUCKY BBALL = OKLAHOMA FOOTBALL
Insanely rabid fans have kept these programs at the top by sheer public pressure. Despite the fact that both schools are weighed down by their history, these schools have both been near the top in recent years...

NORTH CAROLINA BBALL = NEBRASKA FOOTBALL
...while on the other hand, these illustrious programs took a major hit in 2002. While both schools had unbelivable runs (UNC's streak of 20-win seasons, UN's streak of winning seasons) they now face rebuilding. The legacies of Dean Smith and Tom Osborne still loom large.

More to come...