It’s SB Nation’s Rivalry Week! There’s no better way to celebrate than by ranking Northwestern’s Big Ten rivals (and some other folks) based on their respective histories and importance to the ‘Cats. Rivalries, especially in college sports, are generally defined with well-documented histories, geographical and cultural implications, trophies and nicknames. At the same time, many schools have more than one rival or may hold different perceptions of a certain matchup. In different sports, certain rivalries prevail as well.
With the wide range of sports Northwestern plays, it’s important to take many factors into consideration to rank its rivals.