How these two college basketball rivalries are unique

There are few Division I basketball rivals that have this type of unique similarity.

These two rivalries are similar to the Duke-North Carolina, Xavier-Cincinnati, and Drexel-Penn rivalries based primarily on how close these two schools are to one another and the amount of times they play each other as well.

Both rivalries are between schools within 26 miles of each other, play one another at least twice a season, are both in the same conference, and one school is private, and one is public.

Let's take a look at these two basketball rivalries.

Because they are not located in different cities and only 12 miles separate the two schools in Los Angeles, it is a real crosstown rivalry between UCLA and USC. Campuses of other schools can be seen from far away,, but not these two schools, as their campuses are very close in proximity. They are both now members of the Big Ten conference, and the two schools compete in the Crosstown Cup.

Oakland and Detroit Mercy are playing against each other in a game within Michigan. The winner will have bragging rights in the rivalry. The University of Detroit Mercy and Oakland Basketball are only about 26 miles apart. They compete against one another in a rivalry known as the Metro Series. The Golden Grizzlies live in Rochester, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, and UDM is in northwest Detroit. Because they are located close to Interstate 75, it takes less than thirty minutes to travel from one university to the basketball arenas and each other.

This is an actual academic competition between these UCLA and USC, like the one between Stanford and Cal. These two universities are competing partly because of how well-known they are in the country as academic institutions. UCLA is a public school that some people think is the best public university in the country. People know it because of the good science and engineering schools. However, USC is a private school with strong business and performing arts programs.

According to College Tuition Compare, Oakland tuition and fees are approximently $24,737 per school year, whereas UDM's are approximently $32,300. UDM's SAT average score of incoming students exceeds Oakland's 1,110. Oakland has 16,108 students annually attending it's school, whereas UDM has 5,360. UDM has an 11-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio compared to Oakland's 17:1.
Oakland has 637 full-time faculty, whereas UDM has 315.

UCLA and USC have had many memorable games with one another and have, in recent years, been relatively even with one another regarding who wins their games against one another. The football rivalry between these two schools gets more attention, but this rivalry in basketball is also very important to both schools.

There are hardly many Division One colleges that compete in basketball that are near each other. Oakland became a member of the Horizon Conference and joined UDM as a member of the conference in 2013. This rivalry grows more intense every year, and this game could become a classic.

Although the Titans have a lot of injuries, their momentum that they had is decreasing due to recent losses, and Oakland having a better conference record; this rivalry game might not be thrilling. However, it is typically a terrific game when two rivals like this face off on the floor.

Granted, these two rivalries are different, but they have more similarities than one may think. One rivalry is between two major basketball programs from the Big Ten and the other is between two mid-major schools from the Horizon League but what separates college basketball from college football is that not only do more Division I schools compete in basketball in comparison to football but there are more rivalries like this in college basketball than in college football.