When Herb Sendek fled Raleigh for Arizona State, he presumably sought to flee the long shadows of Duke and UNC basketball.
He probably didn’t understand the dynamics of Arizona and Arizona State very well.
It may be worse in Tucson than Tempe but the rancor of that rivalry far outstrips any we know of. It’s not a better rivalry; it’s just incredibly nasty.
In Tucson, the U of A is it. Tucson is kind of an island far away from most of the rest of country and most of - well all of - the athletic pride comes from the Wildcats.