BlogPoll IV: Return from Blog Mountain | by Jay

The BlogPoll Roundtable is back, and this time, it's personal.

(What's the BlogPoll, you ask? In case you haven't been following along, fifty college football blogs have banded together to do a poll and rankings throughout the season. Brian over at mgoblog has the full rundown. And, to jumpstart things, we've been having a little back-and-forth on various topics. This week, it's BGS's turn to try and corral the pack of wild blogs.)

Okay, on to the topic, and it's one of our favorites: Rivals. You know, those longstanding feuds that go way, way back...or at least seem like they do. The Hatfields versus the McCoys, the Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals, Rick Blaine versus Victor Laszlo, Liberace versus subtlety. We've all got a rival, sometimes two or three. So...

1. Who are your rival(s)? The big games. The ones you always get up for, no matter how poor the teams might be during any given season. While we all might have a general sense of what the well-known national rivalries are (Army/Navy, Auburn/Alabama, etc) this is a chance to expound a little bit on your own personal bloodfeuds. Give us a little history, a little flavor, maybe a piece of lore or a notable prank that happened in the course of this feud. Also, feel free to use this question to talk about some rivalries in your team's history that may have faded away over the years.

2. Size up your chances in your rival games this year. Pretty straightforward. Try to be objective.

3. If you could start up a new rivalry with another team, who would it be? Is there a team out there that you think would make a perfect rival for your team? Maybe you've played them a few times in the past and the games got a little heated, or perhaps there's an oldtime rivalry of yours that you'd like to rekindle. Pick a team (or two) that you'd love to battle year in and year out.

4. Overall, what do you think the best rivalry in college football is? Try to pick one that doesn't involve your own team. What makes that rivalry so much better than all the others?

5. Lastly, game trophies. What are the best and worst rivalry trophies out there? There's a lot of crazy stuff changing hands every football season: Golden Axes and Beehive Boots, Old Wagon Wheels and War Canoes. Which trophies are cool? Which trophy would you be embarrassed to see your team hoist aloft after winning a rivalry game? Here's a cribsheet to help you pick out your favorite and/or most ridiculous. And if nothing seems to fit, and you'd like to design your own trophy, you can mention that too.

BlogPollers, be sure to post your answers here in a comment or set up a Trackback so we can round everything up. And readers, don't hesitate to weigh in with your own thoughts. We'll do the BGS response a little later on, after hearing what the ND faithful have to say.

In the meantime, strike up the band, break out the homecoming floats and fly in the big donors...our old rival's comin' to town.