Ohio State Football: Nittany Lions aren’t Buckeyes’ rival

This is the biggest game of the year for the Ohio State football team and all eyes will be on Columbus. Whenever the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes play, a debate starts as to whether these teams should be considered rivals.

Today I will argue that the Ohio State football team does not, and should not consider Penn State a rival.

One of the biggest reasons is the lack of history between these teams. There have only been a total of 34 meetings between these two schools (including a vacated win for Ohio State), which just isn’t enough time to develop a rivalry.

The teams have only started playing each other regularly when Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993. While the majority of games have been when both teams are ranked, this does not make it a rivalry. It is a consistently good game, nothing more.

The biggest reason I argue that Penn State is not a rivalry is because the animosity is one-sided.

Known Rivalry is a site that shows who fans deem to be the biggest rivals of each team. Looking at the data helps show why the conversation of rivalry comes up each time the Buckeyes play the Nittany Lions, and where that conversation comes from.

Penn State has Ohio State labeled as their top rival with 37.43 rival points. The Nittany Lions have several rivals, but the Buckeyes check in at the top of the list.

On the flip side, Ohio State’s top rival is TTUN checking in with 90.71 rivalry points. First, check out the difference between point spreads. The Buckeyes are laser focused with the hatred they feel for the Wolverines.

As we find Penn State on the list of rivals, they are not even No. 2 (Wisconsin) but check in at No. 3 with 3.51 points. That is a 33.92 point spread between how Nittany Lions’ fans feel (rival) and Buckeye fans feel (indifferent).

If you consider that Ohio State has the same level of hatred for Penn State as they do Wisconsin, but Penn State has pegged Ohio State as the top rival, we begin to see the problem.

Rivalries cannot be just one-sided. The Buckeyes have a long and storied tradition with the Wolverines as there have been times where both sides have dominated the rivalry. That rivalry is considered by many to be the greatest in all of sports.

There needs to be many more years of competitive play between Ohio State and Penn State for this to have a chance at becoming a rivalry. There also needs to be some back and forth, and not a rivalry dominated by one team.

There have been several great games between the two teams the last few years so many younger fans have grown a hatred for the Nittany Lions. This is misplaced hatred when looking at the entire history of the programs.

This has the potential to become a great rivalry, but for now it is just a very good game between two divisional teams. Do you consider Penn State a rival? Is there any other team other than TTUN you would say is a rival?