Don't we have to hate them, in addition to them hating us, for it to really be a rivalry. It's more of them wanting to beat a team with a lot of
prestige and history. If they are from Minnesota, they probably dreamed of playing for the Gophers, and didn't get that chance, so it's a big game for
them. I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, history doesn't win games, but I think that may be where that rivalry feeling comes from.
I think this is more common than we think though. Example: My friend who goes to Texas A&M hates Texas and raves about the rivalry, when I'm sure Texas fans probably care more about beating Oklahoma. He also mocks Texas Tech for trying to have a rivalry with A&M, and fails to see the irony. The true great rivalries are between teams competing at the same level, playing important games against each other. These "fake" rivalries seem to come into play when a team is playing second-fiddle to a more famous team in the same area. The smaller team gets all pumped to try and take the bigger team down, while the bigger team only really cares about the other big teams.
I think this is more common than we think though. Example: My friend who goes to Texas A&M hates Texas and raves about the rivalry, when I'm sure Texas fans probably care more about beating Oklahoma. He also mocks Texas Tech for trying to have a rivalry with A&M, and fails to see the irony. The true great rivalries are between teams competing at the same level, playing important games against each other. These "fake" rivalries seem to come into play when a team is playing second-fiddle to a more famous team in the same area. The smaller team gets all pumped to try and take the bigger team down, while the bigger team only really cares about the other big teams.
