For the first time since I came to Iowa State, I am going to admit that Iowa is better than Minnesota at something.

That’s right. It took me two years, but I found it.

Unless you are a hockey nut, Minnesota has no intrastate rivalries.

There is no “State” to rant against during the offseason, no other school to direct my anger toward.

The closest thing we have to a rivalry is a “border battle” with Wisconsin, but it doesn’t even come close to the intensity the schools in Iowa create. There is an overall lack of passion for Gopher sports, and it left me wanting more.

As I sat watching the ISU volleyball team mop the floor with our rival Northern Iowa, I realized an intrastate rivalry is what college sports are all about.

While the animosity between schools comes mainly from the fans, playing the same team again and again, especially for bragging rights, brings out a fire in the athletes that otherwise would lie dormant.

The great thing about the fire is it makes both teams play better. In a big rivalry, there is hardly ever a blow out, no matter how bad one program is (I believe the Iowa football team knows what I’m talking about).

One thing I wanted to figure out is how fans chose their alliances.

Is there something about a certain school that draws people to it, or is there something else? The fans give life to a rivalry, and which side of the battlefield they line up on is crucial.

Dave Wehrman of Altoona has been a lifelong UNI fan. He brought his two young children to the game to share his passion. His family has a tradition with Northern Iowa, and it was only natural for him to follow.

“I put in five years of schooling there, plus I’ve been a Panther fan since I was 5-years-old,” Wehrman said.

So maybe loyalties are a product of tradition, be it alumni coming back to cheer on their former school or a family history.

But Cathy Brown of Ames said she thinks there may be another factor to consider.

“In my experience, it has been mainly a regional thing,” Brown said.

So while I still haven’t figured out why fans choose the teams they do, I don’t really care. The one thing I do know is that rivalries like the ones the big Iowa schools have is what makes sports worth watching.

I’m going to try and enjoy every rivalry game I can the rest of my time here in Ames, because it is an experience that not everyone gets to be a part of.

So the next time someone makes a dumb joke about Iowa, just smile and shake your head. They obviously don’t know how lucky you are.

– Nick Paulson is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Minnetonka, Minn.