Big Ten Rivalry Rankings: 21-25

If you missed the original post from last week, we took all 153 different Big Ten matchups and winnowed them down to get a top 25 by using stats, methodology, and a good amount of vibes. Now we're doing the harder part: it's time to rank them in reverse order. On to the ranking system!

We're going to use this series of deeply precise parameters:

1. When did the rivalry begin?
2. How many games have been played?
3. Does the game have a nickname or a trophy?
4. Is there an intra-state, bordering state, or proximity connection?
5. What sort of parity is there, both overall and recently?
6. What's the relevance to the larger Big Ten/college football landscape?
7. Hate Index, or would you lose every other game to win this one?
8. Does it have any good history or lore?

25: Northwestern v Minnesota

• Total Games: 98 (Minnesota 56, Northwestern 37, Ties 5)
• First Played: 1892
• Largest margin of victory: 1905, Minnesota 72, Northwestern 6

In contrast to my original article's primary argument, sometimes familiarity doesn't really breed contempt. This matchup has nearly cleared the century mark, but outside of a very specific household in the Twin Cities area with a NW grad (hi, MNWildcat!) does anyone care about this rivalry? They're both original, founding members of the Big Ten, but these teams don't think about each other. They don't have a traveling trophy, they don't have a proximal connection, and the last instance they were both ranked at the same time was in 2000. Congrats for making the top 25, but this is where we start the list.

24: Michigan State v Wisconsin

• Total Games: 55 (Michigan State 31, Wisconsin 24, 0 ties)
• First Played: 1913
• Largest margin of victory: 1978, MSU 55, Wisconsin 2

This matchup has one of the lowest games played totals of this list, but it's got some good details. Both campuses are located in their state capitals (I know, East Lansing v Lansing, whatever), they share joint custody of Lake Michigan, and the parity is pretty even. Throw in a rando December 1993 game in Tokyo, Japan and a classic showdown in the original Big Ten championship game in 2011 (featuring Monte Ball, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, and Le'Veon Bell) and this matchup has pretty solid juice for the lack of overall games played.

23: Northwestern v Iowa

• Total Games: 86 (Iowa 55, Nortwestern 28, 3 ties)
• First Played: 1897 (coached by Otto Wagonhurst and Jesse Van Doozer. Great names.)
• Largest margin of victory: 1913, Iowa 78, Northwestern 6

Ah yes, the Battle for Chicago's Suburbs. Similar to the Northwestern-Minny matchup above, this just doesn't hit the same level as other rivalries for either combatant. Iowa hates Minnesota and Wisconsin and Nebraska (all bow down to the Quadrangle of Hate) far more than they dislike Northwestern, and Northwestern is more interested in the HAT rivalry with Illinois and the talking academic smack at Michigan. Plenty of games played, some reasonable geographic connection (at least by way of Naperville or various sundry northern Chicago suburbs), and some fun and/or relevant games in recent years, but not enough to bump this one up any higher. Shoutout to the Wrigley Field game in 2023, in which the goal line stand resulted in a hole being dug into the goddamn seventh circle of hell. Also this dyad won 5/10 of the Big Ten West division championships. That's not nothing (although the East remains undefeated in the title game.)

22: Purdue v Iowa

• Total Games: 94 (Purdue 50, Iowa 41, 2 ties)
• First Played: 1910
• Largest margin of victory: 1922, Iowa 56, Purdue 0.

This is the first matchup that technically has been considered a capital R Rivalry, if only by the powers that be in the B1G HQ at Rosemont, Illinois. In the Leaders/Legends (lol) division setup, Purdue and Iowa were considered cross-division protected rivals. Why? Last kid chosen in the park. There was no real history here, but the fanbases adopted this as OMHR, Our Most Hated Rival. It was facetious, but also became a not-nothing matchup. Good parity across the years, plenty of recent relevance to the Big Ten West division, and some arbitrary lore attached.

21: Illinois v Indiana

• Total Games: (Illinois 46, Indiana 25, 2 ties)
• First Played: 1899
• Largest margin of victory: 1914, Illinois 51, Indiana 0.

If this were basketball, it'd be much higher. We've got some regional proximity with Bloomington and Champaign geographically closer than most B1G matchups. Plenty of games played, but almost never relevant to the larger Big Ten or CFB landscape. Similar to Iowa-Purdue above, this was a protected rivalry of convenience for the two Leaders/Legends years. Illinois has the lead, but it's been pretty close in recent years. Shoutout to one of my absolute favorite games ever, the 2023 Illinois-Indiana matchup, the John Paddock Game, the OT win where Isaiah Williams walked the damn thing off and I terrified my visiting Mom by screaming at the bar TV.

Complaints, concerns, quibbles, questions? Hit it below.