Bennett's Breakdown: Anatomy of a Rivalry

By Donnovan Bennett - Sportsnet TV Personality

Follow Donnovan on Twitter: @donnovanbennett

The anatomy of a rivalry.

The many rivalries in CIS are equally dispersed across its four conferences, yet one stands tall above the fray because of its simultaneous uniqueness and brilliance. By definition a rivalry is a competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field. Based on that definition, mens basketball in the nations capital is a rivalry in its purest form and its getting more heated every time the two teams face off. The objective is to be the best in the country, and first and foremost to be the best in your city. Right now those two objectives are mutually exclusive. Win the nations capital and youll likely win the national championship.

An interesting perspective into this rivalry comes from James Derouin. He experienced it as a player and is now one of the ascending coaches in Canadian basketball. Yet despite his success at transforming Ottawas program, when I told someone I was profiling Ottawas coach, they immediately assumed I was referring to Dave Smart. Such is the shadow you exist in when you are involved in basketball in Ottawa. The headline story in town is almost always the Ravens.

Although they are equals in talent and in the win column, the ledger is far from even. Carleton has won 10 of the last 12 national championships to go with eight OUA titles. In comparison, Ottawa has two OUA championships. Carletons success, though, has created the monster that lies in their city. Derouin admits When you have the other team in your city winning over and over again, and everyone knows it, it drives you like no other. Other schools can be the only game in town and have a solid season and everyone pull for them. We dont have that luxury, even 53-3 over two years isnt good enough, that drives you every day. That Carleton curse cures any chance of complacency for the Gee-Gees program.

Ironically the close proximity and combined strength has allowed both programs to attract NCAA schools to come up in the preseason for competitive exhibition games. They know theyll face great competition with minimal travel. As many schools have learned, the idea of coming to Ottawa and killing two birds with one stone often ends up with two losses.

The fact that the schools are currently the top two teams in the nation breeds competition. They are a combined 100-0 over the last two years against everyone else in the country besides each other. They are once again ranked 1 and 2 in the nation and will stay that way irrespective of the outcome of their first matchup this week. However, the rivalry began off of the playing surface. It initially started as an outlet for student bodies who lived amongst each other and wanted to exercise their passion for their respective schools. According to Derouin, The rivalry really got going during the era where there was no football at Carleton, so fans were really looking for an outlet to replace the Panda game which had become the poster game for rivalries. The fact that the two teams are in the same city, the fact that they are both strong teams year after year has to make the rivalry pretty special.

The market inefficiency of not having a rival football game to cheer at is no longer void as the Ravens have football back and this fall completed their second season since their rebirth. The football programs can only hope their rivalry rivals the one that has been developed between the schools basketball teams.

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Bennett's Breakdown: Anatomy of a Rivalry