ETSU vs. UNC-Asheville is a Rivalry Waiting To Happen

Buccaneers and Bulldogs met yesterday for a baseball game. Basketball should follow.

The expansion of college sports conferences has destroyed many rivalries.

Pitt and Penn State will play one final time this season and then not again for at least 10 years on the gridiron. There’s talk of restoring Texas — Texas A & M, but it appears 2032 will be the earliest the game can be played.

LSU-Tulane? Only in baseball.

Nebraska-Oklahoma? Like Tennessee-Auburn, only played sporadically. And when Tennessee opened up their season with Georgia Tech two years ago, it seemed like an ex-couple meeting on the street rather than getting back together.

Locally there’s one game that should be played more often whenever it can be; East Tennessee State against UNC-Asheville.

Sure, the Bulldogs don’t have a football team. No, the Bucs are not in the same conference, holding their noses high that ETSU is once again in the Southern Conference, unless of course they wish to look down their noses at UNC-A’s Big South membership.

But there’s geography and cultural differences. What else do you need?

Last night ETSU’s baseball team went to Asheville and took at 10–8 slugfest from the Bulldogs. It wasn’t that surprising since ETSU is now 28–14 overall and UNC-A is 14–30, having lost their last four games.