Our University is like a home turf. When other schools invade for sporting events or competitions, we can scream and yell from the safety of our own side of Assembly Hall, Huff Hall or Memorial Stadium. All opposing fans can do is attempt to retaliate with their own, less intimidating chants and hopefully go home disappointed because Illinois came out victorious. One can dream, right?

Rivalries are ingrained in every sports fan and the Big Ten. The history and tradition is a breeding ground for rabid fans with no love for any team but their own.

So naturally this weekend, I was tested to the very core of my being when my roommate and I were asked to host two girls from Ohio State for an event we were involved with. I automatically had thoughts of Terrell Pryor, Urban Meyer, OH-IO and the fact that they insist on being called THE Ohio State University. As a girl who bought her father an “I hate Ohio State” shirt for Christmas this past year, I was considerably worried. This school is an athletic powerhouse that I personally have trouble stomaching. I was anxious. Nervous. Concerned there was no way I could even co-exist in the same space with people from this school. Dramatic? Sure, but sports IS drama.

Though I am happy to report that last weekend was successful, and I now have two amazing new friends who I can’t wait to see again, I started thinking about rivalries in general. Can sports as we know them — college, high school, pee wee or professional — exist in the same way without rivalries?

Picture the NFL without the suspense that is Bears-Packers. No more hype between the Bulls and the Heat, though LeBron James is pretentious no matter what. The Cubs and the Cardinals are cordial and play each other like any other team. Alabama and Auburn refrain from brawling at their annual Iron Bowl. And Illinois? We could care less about who Chicago’s “Big Ten team” is. The Illibuck trophy? Not important. The Braggin’ Rights game? Who cares?

Rivalries are what makes sports exciting. Sure, teams would still want to win games, but what about that feeling you get during a rivalry week? Campus comes alive with school spirit and the community bands together with the common denominator of mutual hatred for the opponent.

ESPN’s College GameDay does a good job of capturing how rivalries can fuel fans, athletes and coaches alike. Every time long-time football analyst Lee Corso makes his pick and dons the corresponding mascot head, fans go wild either with ecstatic support or pure rage that their team was overlooked.

It’s a personal thing. Once you associate yourself with a certain team, it stays with you for life.

It could be as small as keeping your orange and blue tucked in a drawer in the back of your closet. Perhaps you frequent games just to remember what it was like back in your glory days. Or maybe, just maybe, you love your Illini so much that you can’t fathom living anywhere else, so you make the permanent move to dear old Champaign.

As someone who has proudly worn an Illinois shirt to my fair share of universities, I can firmly report that rivalry is alive and well amongst our Big Ten counterparts.

On a larger scale, rivalries exist among conferences just as fiercely as within.

How many times have bowl games been analyzed to try and prove conference supremacy? If I had a dollar for every time I have to hear about the “dominance” that is the SEC in football, I would have season tickets for any and every team of my choosing.

The conference with the most teams selected for the NCAA tourney in March is considered the strongest. Good news for the Big Ten this year. Though the Big East found out the hard way last year that quality beats quantity every time.

Rivalry is passion. It’s love and hatred. It’s orange and blue for life.

Rivalry is sports.

Aryn is a junior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ArynBraun.