So last week I wrote this post about UMass and its potential rivals in the college hockey world and invited readers to vote on the Fear The Triangle Facebook page for who they thought was best suited to be UMass’ main rival.  Here are the current results of the voting:

Maine – 20 votes
Vermont – 14
Lowell – 10
Boston College – 9
Other – 2 (Minnesota State and ?)

Those results include my vote, which I just cast.  For the reasons I outlined last week I’ve always wanted UMass to have its chief rivalry with Boston College.  I think the dynamics I mentioned; two largest athletic programs, play each other in all sports, and the state agricultural school versus private school in the city, work very well to building a rivalry.  But because UMass has had little success against BC on the ice and the Eagles are already part of one of the better rivalries in college hockey, I don’t think this will ever come to fruition.

For those reasons my vote went to Vermont.  While these teams haven’t played a lot of important games in recent time, they do have history going back further than most other choices on the list.  They also already have established traditions like the Turkey Tuesday game and if in fact they do play each other at Fenway this winter, it will only add to the connection between the schools.  A major consideration for choosing the Catamounts is that they don’t currently have a chief rival.  You can’t say the same for Maine.  While the Black Bears and Minutemen have had some thrilling games and have both gotten their licks in against each other, I’m sure if you asked a Maine fan who their rivals are they’d say UNH, BU, and everyone else.

Thanks to everyone who provided their feedback, either through comments and voting.  It was great to hear what other UMass fans and even some non-UMass fans thought on this subject.

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The Sharks have a good profile and interview with Justin Braun up on their site.