TUCSON, Ariz. — Unlike Big 12 football, where the league chose not to preserve every rivalry, Big 12 basketball got it right. More league games help, but every team gets to play its natural rival twice each season.
It would be odd for, say, Arizona and Arizona State to not play each other twice in a season. And, after experiencing Saturday’s overtime game between the Wildcats and Sun Devils on Saturday, the Big 12 now has another great rivalry to promote in women’s basketball.
The Big 12 Needs Strong Rivalries
Arizona State (21-6, 8-6 in Big 12) won in overtime, 75-69, sweeping the season series. The rivalry has had wild swings over the years. When the Sun Devils won the first matchup, it snapped a seven-game losing streak against Arizona (11-14, 2-12). Entering the game the Wildcats had won 11 of 15 matchups. Extend it out further and Arizona State had won 31 of the previous 46 matchups.
Great rivalries sell out to emotion. Arizona stoked it right away. When Arizona State won the first matchup in January, it drew more than 6,000 people. In front of more than 8,000 at the McKale Center on Saturday, the video board cut to a clip of Wildcats head coach Becky Burke fielding a question about the crowd.
“That was great,” Burke said. “We play in front of that every night.”
Shots fired. And then the game started.
It’s different seeing teams in person than on TV. You get a better sense of their identities. For instance, ASU coach Molly Miller said in October that she wanted teams that played her Sun Devils to feel like they were going to “a trip to the dentist.” It doesn’t always come across on TV. See them in person and you get it. They’re tenacious, aggressive and have short memories when they make mistakes.
Burke has talked at times this season about the talent gap between her team and some of the other teams in the Big 12. When she took over for Adia Barnes, one player met her in the locker room after her press conference. She has likened it to a “from the studs” rebuild. The Wildcats played like a team that understands how to overcome the gap — play scrappy, chip-on-your-shoulder basketball until the whistle.
The Coaching Connection
Spin it together and you get an incredible atmosphere and a rivalry to add to the list of the great ones in the Big 12. It’s one that has the potential to take on a new identity with Miller and Burke, a pair of coaches that have more in common than one might think.
Both played college basketball. Burke was a four-year guard at Louisville, where they reached the national title game her freshman year. Miller was a guard at Division II Drury, where she was the school’s second-leading all-time scorer and eventually inducted into the school’s hall of fame.
Both got head coaching jobs at young ages. Burke became the head coach at Embry-Riddle, an NAIA school in Prescott, Ariz., four years after graduating from Louisville, Miller was an assistant at her alma mater and became head coach there six years after graduating.
Both climbed the ladder. Miller made fewer stops — she landed at Grand Canyon before Arizona State. Burke hopped from Embry-Riddle to Charleston to USC Upstate to Buffalo before Arizona. But each has turned every team they’ve coached into winners, with Burke leading Buffalo to the WNIT crown last year.
These two coaches have already energized the rivalry, one that could pull itself into the national conversation in women’s basketball if each can achieve success at the same time. Miller had nothing but love for the crowd on Saturday, even if the vast majority of the crowd wanted her Sun Devils to lose.
“It’s great when you can draw eyes to the sport through rivalry,” Miller said. That’s a win-win, and I’m really proud of our girls for facing the environment and coming out on top.”
Arizona State needed the win as its NCAA Tournament hopes are on the line. Arizona probably won’t be in any postseason play and Burke’s rebuild is going to take more time. But she saw the same thing that Miller did — nothing but good for both programs and women’s basketball.
“It’s amazing,” Burke said. “It’s great for our game. It’s great for the state of Arizona, obviously. And yeah, I don’t think there’s any negatives to it at all. It was a great game. So, yeah, the crowd, the environment — Tucson did their thing per usual.”
In an era where rivalries get minimized in football, it’s another reason to continue to embrace those in basketball. Miller and Burke are right — it’s great for their programs, it’s great for their programs and it’s great for Arizona. And, when these two programs are winning at the same time, it’s going to be huge for the Big 12.
