# Are there any big rivalries between US states? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167 "2013-01-05T16:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/1 "2013-01-05T16:18:00Z")
…or Canadian provinces for that matter? By rivalry (friendly or otherwise), I mean like that between the English and the Scottish, or the English and the Welsh, or the English and the Irish, or the English and the English (north vs south, Londoners vs Home Counties etc). Damn English! They ruined England. I hear that there’s a rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma because of that [futuristic rugby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Rivalry) you play. I ask because I want to visit the colonies one day and don’t want to make a tit of myself with a faux-pas. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/2 "2013-01-05T16:50:46Z")
Here in Ohio, we are always poking fun at people who live in Kentucky and West Virginia. (“Bunch of backward hicks.”) And there is a _huge_ rivalry in college football between [The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan%E2%80%93Ohio_State_football_rivalry). ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/3 "2013-01-05T17:02:53Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Here in Ohio, we are always poking fun at people who live in Kentucky and West Virginia. (“Bunch of backward hicks.”) And there is a _huge_ rivalry in college football between [The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan%E2%80%93Ohio_State_football_rivalry). The Michigan/Ohio thing doesn’t even need to be tied to football. There’s friendly razzing about the other state for just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/4 "2013-01-05T17:25:19Z")
Minnesota and Wisconsin have a rivalry as well. The rivalry between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers (of NFL football) is huge. There is also a huge rivalry between the University of Minnesota Gophers and the University of Wisconsin Badgers, especially in football. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/5 "2013-01-05T17:32:54Z")
Huge stereotype here: Everybody who doesn’t live in California hates California. Everybody who doesn’t live in Texas hates Texas. Everybody who doesn’t live in New York hates New York. Most people don’t have strong opinions about any other state they don’t live in. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/6 "2013-01-05T17:40:17Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Huge stereotype here: > > Everybody who doesn’t live in California hates California. > Everybody who doesn’t live in Texas hates Texas. > Everybody who doesn’t live in New York hates New York. And everybody who lives in New York hates [New Jersey](http://www.hulu.com/watch/119794). Also, fuck the Sox. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/7 "2013-01-05T18:08:00Z")
There’s a bit of a rivalry between Maryland and Virginia, but really it’s more like Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia vs. the rest of Virginia. In the Maryland-DC-Northern Virginia area most of the bitching tends to center around driving, with each faction blaming their traffic woes on the others. ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/8 "2013-01-05T18:21:38Z")
You’re mostly going to find football and basketball rivalries. I will echo ‘Texas v Everyone,’ or at least Texas v Oklahoma and Arkansas. > **[List of NCAA college football rivalry games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_college_football_rivalry_games)** > > This is a list of rivalry games in college football in the United States. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams.\[a\] > This list is restricted to rivalries whose participants are currently in different Division I football subdivisions, and have played one another while in different subdivisions. Most of these began when both teams competed in the same (sub)division. > In this list, the FCS team is in italics. Regionally there are North vs. South (well, really, Everybody vs. South) and East Coast vs. West Coast. Both coasts vs. flyover country (that empty land that you fly over when you go from LA to NYC). Finally you’ll find stereotypes for most states, but they usually only come out as jokes. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/9 "2013-01-05T18:32:58Z")
It has been ages since I lived in Illinois, but back then, Illinois and Indiana were not exactly good buddies. While I would agree that California is not generally beloved by most other states, Californians don’t really care. And speaking solely for residents of NYC, they don’t particularly care what people think of them either. Hard to have a rivalry when you don’t give a damn what others think. That said, New Yorkers do have a particular disdain for California - perhaps a tad bit of jealousy for the film/music industry in California? Most ex-New Yorkers I met in California admitted their family and friends back in NYC considered them traitors for moving “there”. New Yorkers had no problems once they arrived in California - but Californians are generally not greeted with open arms if they move to NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/10 "2013-01-05T18:42:41Z")
It may bear noting that state-to-state rivalries are not the same as those between European countries in the past. The state rivalries are comparatively good natured, and there isn’t the slightest possibility that they would ever erupt in war. We’re Americans first and New Yorkers or Californians second. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/11 "2013-01-05T18:46:10Z")
Wisconsinites aren’t terribly fond of folks from Illinois, because so many Illinois people appear only in the summer for vacations in their summer cottages or at the gazillion water parks around the Wisconsin Dells. There are names for these people: Fibs (Fucking Illinois bastards); even Fishtabs (Fucking Illinois shitheads towing a boat)! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/12 "2013-01-05T19:25:05Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > The Michigan/Ohio thing doesn’t even need to be tied to football. There’s friendly razzing about the other state for just about anything. > [@Musicat](#): > > It may bear noting that state-to-state rivalries are not the same as those between European countries in the past. The state rivalries are comparatively good natured, and there isn’t the slightest possibility that they would ever erupt in war. We’re Americans first and New Yorkers or Californians second. However, the Ohio-Michigan rivalry does go back to the [Ohio Michiigan War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Michgan_War), where the Ohio and Michigan militias were raised over a disputed strip of land (which includes Toledo). (It’s said that, in the long term, Ohio lost the war, because Ohio got Toledo and Michigan got the Upper Peninsula. This is possibly unfair to Toledo.) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/13 "2013-01-05T19:35:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > It may bear noting that state-to-state rivalries are not the same as those between European countries in the past. The state rivalries are comparatively good natured, and there isn’t the slightest possibility that they would ever erupt in war. We’re Americans first and New Yorkers or Californians second. Yes, this is the serious answer.(in case anybody was looking for one). But the fun answer, for those of you furriners is: 1. pretty much any two states that border on each other hate each other. 2. the biggest states (Calif, Texas, NY) are hated by all the other 47 3. the southern states hate the northern states, but part of that is jealousy. 4. the northern states hate the southern states, for good reasons 🙂 5. nobody hates Delaware, because [it doesn’t exist](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=35621&highlight=Delaware) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/14 "2013-01-05T19:38:53Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > Minnesota and Wisconsin have a rivalry as well. The rivalry between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers (of NFL football) is huge. There is also a huge rivalry between the University of Minnesota Gophers and the University of Wisconsin Badgers, especially in football. The Wisconsin-Illinois rivalry is much bigger. Packers-Bears games are much more significant than Packers-Vikings, given that the former is the oldest rivalry in the NFL. Granted, Badgers versus Illini doesn’t generate as much heat as Badgers-Gophers, but the WI-IL rivalry transcends college sports greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/15 "2013-01-05T19:40:50Z")
There are also the states that you tell jokes about. I’ve lived in Montana, where they tell North Dakota jokes (most of which I found later in an old paperback book of Polack jokes), and in Minnesota, they tell Iowa jokes. No idea if those rivalries go the other way. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/16 "2013-01-05T19:48:51Z")
Kansas, by contrast, is the nation’s red-headed-step-child, the Rodney Dangerfield of America. The rest of the country wipes its nethers with Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/17 "2013-01-05T19:58:42Z")
People in Northern California hate Southern California. The people in Southern California don’t really understand or care. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/18 "2013-01-05T20:06:55Z")
Canadian province joke: What’s the difference between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland? In Nova Scotia, Moosehead is a beer. In Newfoundland, it’s a misdemeanor ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/19 "2013-01-05T20:08:14Z")
In California, we have this thing going with various parts of the state. Southern California vs. Northern California, coast vs. inland, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167/20 "2013-01-05T20:09:30Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > People in Northern California hate Southern California. The people in Southern California don’t really understand or care. True. I didn’t even know people in Norcal had a problem until I went to school up there. Then I was like, “Wait, what?” We don’t even notice or care down in LA. Re: Minn/Wisc, they’re the same thing to me. I lived in Minn for a while and referred to the whole area as Minnesconsin. This did not go over well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-big-rivalries-between-us-states/646167.md?page=2)