Red or Blue State
Rising tensions at the Creighton vs Nebraska basketball game
December 14, 2017
Chants filled the CenturyLink Center Omaha on a cool December afternoon. Expletives followed by claps came from Creighton fans across the arena as the final seconds of the clock ticked down, marking the seventh straight year the team from Omaha has won in the ever growing in-state rivalry.
But this game has taken on a new persona in recent years, as fans of both sides have started to lash out at each other. Twitter feeds were filled in the week leading up to the heavyweight matchup, with lots of trash talk.
After a tale of two halves, the Bluejays came out with 75-65 win. It consisted of scrappy play by the two teams, with foul trouble plaguing both teams’ stars throughout. Many were not pleased with how the game was officiated, and rightfully so.
Husker supporters of watching on television network Fox Sports 1 were not happy with the crew put together, specifically color analyst Nick Bahe, a former captain of the Creighton basketball team in his senior 2007-08 season. He received backlash from Husker fans for being to “biased” towards his alma mater, against arguably the biggest rivals for the Jays.
Other Nebraska fans that were able to attend the game in downtown Omaha, were largely disappointed with the faithful blues, as they repeated shouted, booed and bragged during the game toward the refs, opposing supporters and sometimes at the players. Even throwing in the newly hired head football coach Scott Frost into it.
But after the in person arguments finished, the social media war continued. Individuals and group accounts spent time stating their debates, while also taking shots at the others. Many resorted back to the old arguments of “How’s that Creighton football team going?” or “When was the last time your team was relevant?”.
In the recent weeks, the social media fights have died down, but there is still tensions, between the two in state rivals, located 55 miles away from each other.
“I just don’t understand Creighton fans,” junior Cole Limpach said. “They talk trash about Nebraska during the basketball season, but when football season starts again, they act like they are die hard Husker fans.”
The opinions between the two fans differ majorly from each other.
“Nebraska fans are fake,” freshman Ben Bizal said. “They act like they care about basketball, but they really just care about football.”
The two sides make sure they get every chance to square off with each other on social media, but where the real playing is on the basketball court, the Creighton Bluejays have had the upper hand for the past seven years.