interstices

Now This is a Rivalry

Boise State moves to the Mountain West Conference next year and it brings an end to the 40 year Boise State v. University of Idaho football rivalry.  Boise would like to move on and schedule opponents that help its strength of schedule.  The Vandals would like to keep playing, as long as the games are played on a home-and-home basis.

So while some are sad to see the rivalry come to an end one has to admit that there was not much to a rivalry where Boise has now equaled Idaho’s 12 game winning streak and pretty much dominated throughout the games starting in 1999.  The record stands at 22-17-1 in Boise’s favor.  It’s not much of a rivalry when the winning/losing streaks go on for so long.  Lopsided scores don’t help much either.

To the west Oregon and Oregon State meet up for the 114th Civil War on Saturday afternoon.  This is a rivalry.  While the Ducks have a better record at 26-13-1 since 1970 than Boise does against Idaho, the games have been closer.  Average point margin in the Civil War is 14 points in the past 40 years.  BSU-Idaho point margin has averaged about 21.  That’s a big difference because even though the Ducks have a higher winning percentage there have been more contested games.

Along with the scatter plots of the winning point margins over time (color-coded by winning team), we display a bar graph showing the number of games that were close (7 or fewer points) or arguably close if two or fewer touchdowns.  A huge difference in the number of games that fall in this category between the Civil War and the game in the Game state.  Game where the margin of victory exceeds 22 points is a specialty of the Boise State - Idaho rivalry.  That’s nasty and inebriated. 

Oddly enough each rivalry boasts a tie.  The 31-31 donnybrook for the Kibbie Dome dedication in 1975 contrasts sharply with the 0-0 “toilet bowl” debacle in the 1983 Civil War.

A healthy rivalry is one where both teams may have a realistic shot at a win in a given year.  One where fans have something to talk about.  Even after losing there should always be a “wait until next year” feeling that is not too unrealistic.  That’s the way it is in Oregon, but no longer in Idaho.  And so maybe it’s time to call it good after 40 years.