We’ll start with the obvious ones:
- Battle of the Valleys: GVSU vs SVSU, last two MDC and National Champions, eternal rivals looking to one up the other one. Besides the probable one at the MDC, hopefully we’ll get two more of these bad boys in this year.
- Title Rematch: MSU has never beaten GVSU in the long history of this showdown, and GVSU would love to keep it that way. A rematch of a lopsided Championship Game would be fun to watch, so long as it’s more like the epic December 2012 battle these two teams put on.
- Battle for Ohio: Kent State and Ohio State may be two title contenders this season, so this would be a huge game. These guys’ll likely meet multiple times in 2013-2014, getting good experience and fueling an old rivalry.
- East Coast Throwdown: JMU, in the short history of East Coast schools, has dominated their territory. Towson looks like they might have something to say about it this year, after a good showing at Nationals despite being down some major pieces to their puzzle. A couple of these games could help show who’s the boss out East.
- Battle of the Bluegrass: UK vs WKU has gone from Topper dominated to Wildcat dominated, but this is a very underrated classic that sometimes get overlooked.
Some likely ones:
- Battle of the Brownline: DePaul and Moody have the friendliest rivalry in the league, and they often put on good games. Hopefully Moody can rebound numbers-wise after not making it to Nationals, because these games are great.
- Penn State vs the East Coast: PSU is close to the East Coast, and the school has historically had some connections to the East Coast in football. It’d be cool if Penn State could get some games in against Maryland, Towson, JMU, VCU, etc.
- Northwestern State/North Texas vs Anyone: I’d love for NSULA and UNT to get some matches in. They’re incredibly far from everyone else, but hopefully they can get at least one or two games in before Nationals.
- Wisconsin-Platteville vs St. Ambrose: These teams are pretty close to one another, and hopefully St. Ambrose can join the league this season. UWP would love another school close to them, and this could be a great match.
Some that I hope will happen:
- UK vs Louisville: Supposedly Louisville’s team is not as dead as some think, so a Louisville/Kentucky matchup could be great. It would be the best traditional (meaning NCAA) rivalry in the league.
- Big Ten Tournament: Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Penn State battling for bragging rights as to who’s the top dog in the B1G? That’d pique my interest. Even if there can’t be a full on tournament, then a possibility of a rivalry trophy (similar to the Cascadia Cup in MLS) would be a cool alternative as well.
- Western Illinois/Kansas State vs Anyone: Both these teams kinda showed up, and have now disappeared. I’m hoping that they’ll come back for the 2013-2014 season.
- Original Four Tournament: People in the NHL love the Original Six teams, so why not celebrate the Original Four teams that helped create the Midwest Dodgeball Conference? While Delta College is no longer competing, they didn’t get to play in the tournament portion of the first Spartan Dodgeball Invite (the first National Tournament) because they weren’t an official team at that point through their school’s administration. So let’s get DePaul, Kent State, Michigan State, and Ohio State in a tournament to celebrate 10 years of NCDA Dodgeball!
I really like to original four tournament. DePaul would love to do something like that