Arizona-ASU is the most intense rivalry in sports, per study

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When it comes to heated sports rivalries, there are none more intense than Arizona vs. Arizona State.

And, no, we’re not just saying that because this is an Arizona Wildcats website and we may have a slight bias.

It’s true! At least, according to a study.

As reported in the New York Times, two business professors surveyed fans of North American pro sports teams and college football teams, and had them rank their hatred of their rival on a scale from 0 to 100.

Arizona fans averaged 89 hate points toward ASU, while ASU fans averaged 83 hate points toward Arizona. The combined total of 172 is 20 points higher than the second-most intense rivalry—between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

So, why is there so much animosity between Arizona and ASU? A few reasons come to mind:

• the schools are only separated by 100 miles
• they are in the same conference
• neither has another geographic rival (sorry NAU, you’re not relevant enough)
• they have been more or less even in terms of athletic achievement in the modern era
• ASU has ugly colors and is jealous of Arizona’s

So, we’ll ask you—how much do you hate ASU and why?

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