At my time as an undergrad at Eastern Kentucky University, the Eastern/Western game was known as the "Battle of the Bluegrass". It was nearly always a competitive game and a great small college rivalry. However, there was really nothing "small" about this game. It didn't feel anything like a 1-AA football game. The atmosphere was great, students were into the games, and it was always the best tailgate of the year. I experienced the game twice at EKU and once in Bowling Green as a freshman, when I was the Colonel mascot!
As an EKU Alum, it saddens me that this game still doesn't exist and I think WKU fans should feel the same. From Western's perspective, they were making the move up to 1-A football and they thought they were better than EKU despite all the close games and the fact that Eastern beat them in one of the final meetings between the schools in Richmond. Perhaps, the real reason was that they felt they had more to lose from this game than to gain. Just maybe, they were scared as an FBS school to loose to an FCS school? After an 0-12 season a year ago, maybe the Hilltoppers regret dropping Eastern. Maybe they don't feel so superior anymore.
EKU VS. WKU, my sophomore year.
But in a way, the Eastern/Western rivalry lives on tomorrow. The Colonels travel to Louisville to face the Cards and the Hilltoppers come to Lexington to face the Cats. Instead of one "Battle of the Bluegrass", there's now two. Western is still searching for their first FBS victory and it's not going to happen tomorrow against UK. Eastern nearly shocked Indiana a year ago playing on the road in a Big 10 stadium and another OVC team has already made some noise this year when Jacksonville State knocked off Ole Miss. Ole Miss is much better than Louisville, and the Indiana team that the Colonels nearly knocked off a year ago may be better than Louisville as well, so I see no reason why EKU couldn't legitimately pull off the upset tomorrow.
On the other hand, Western is very unlikely to play competitively with the Cats. The Battle(s) of the Bluegrass tomorrow could serve as "bragging rights" between the Colonels and Hilltoppers. I like Eastern's chances to give a much better showing than the 'Tops. It's too bad they just can't play each other on the field. They think they're better than Eastern, but tomorrow might just show otherwise. Eastern could very well beat an FBS team before Western does, and the Hilltoppers get 12 chances a year to do it.
GO CATS, and GO COLONELS!
As an EKU Alum, it saddens me that this game still doesn't exist and I think WKU fans should feel the same. From Western's perspective, they were making the move up to 1-A football and they thought they were better than EKU despite all the close games and the fact that Eastern beat them in one of the final meetings between the schools in Richmond. Perhaps, the real reason was that they felt they had more to lose from this game than to gain. Just maybe, they were scared as an FBS school to loose to an FCS school? After an 0-12 season a year ago, maybe the Hilltoppers regret dropping Eastern. Maybe they don't feel so superior anymore.
EKU VS. WKU, my sophomore year.
But in a way, the Eastern/Western rivalry lives on tomorrow. The Colonels travel to Louisville to face the Cards and the Hilltoppers come to Lexington to face the Cats. Instead of one "Battle of the Bluegrass", there's now two. Western is still searching for their first FBS victory and it's not going to happen tomorrow against UK. Eastern nearly shocked Indiana a year ago playing on the road in a Big 10 stadium and another OVC team has already made some noise this year when Jacksonville State knocked off Ole Miss. Ole Miss is much better than Louisville, and the Indiana team that the Colonels nearly knocked off a year ago may be better than Louisville as well, so I see no reason why EKU couldn't legitimately pull off the upset tomorrow.
On the other hand, Western is very unlikely to play competitively with the Cats. The Battle(s) of the Bluegrass tomorrow could serve as "bragging rights" between the Colonels and Hilltoppers. I like Eastern's chances to give a much better showing than the 'Tops. It's too bad they just can't play each other on the field. They think they're better than Eastern, but tomorrow might just show otherwise. Eastern could very well beat an FBS team before Western does, and the Hilltoppers get 12 chances a year to do it.
GO CATS, and GO COLONELS!
Ok, I'm going to admit now that I just saw that EKU lost 31-9 to Missouri State last week. Sleep well Cards fans, but not too well.
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I was right in that EKU played much more competitively against UofL than WKU did against UK....but I think that says a lot more about UK/UL than it does about EKU/WKU. Just wanted to give a lil pub to the alma matter. They played tough.
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