re: Who is the ultimate “little brother” school in college sports?

It’s Aggie and it ain’t close

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As a Kent St alum, I take issue with this. I just want to make a correction to this post. Kent State is actually a MUCH better school athletically than Ohio U in the Big 3 sports. The only sport that Ohio is better at than Kent is football. Ohio is the most underachieving school in the MAC. Period. Kent State is a baseball powerhouse in the MAC. CWS in 2012: Kent State basketball power in the MAC. NCAA Elite 8 in 2002 MAC Baseball Champions just since 2000: 00, 03, 06, 08, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 23 MAC Basketball Champions since 2000: 01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 08, 10, 11, 15, 17, 23 Ohio U hasn’t won shite!!!!

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Feels weird for me to take the time to respond about the juggernaut Bobcats and Golden Flashes but basketball for you is at best even, probably slightly in Ohio’s favor. Ohio has been to more NCAA Tournaments than you, has more conference titles than you (both regular season and tournament), more Sweet 16s than you, has been to the Sweet 16 more recently than you, has won 4 NCAA Tournament games since your last NCAA Tournament win and has more NCAA Tournament appearances in the past 15 years than you.

In your favor is the more recent Elite Eight appearance in 2002 (Ohio also has one, but all the way back in the 60s… but also, nobody on Kent St’s current team was born when you made that Elite Eight), the most recent NCAA Tournament (2023 for you vs 2021) and NCAA Tournaments this century (6 vs 4). Regardless, it’s similar ballpark.

Football they’re WAY better than you, both historically and recently. I don’t really care about college baseball, but OP did mention it. However, I’d note you each have one CWS and they have more NCAA Tourney appearances, although you’ve been much better this century. But he also said football is the most important sport in this exercise. So with basketball about even and with them significantly better at football, and a baseball program with about equal total historic success (despite your better recent history), I consider them the superior athletic program.

Regardless, the main point of this thread, Ohio and Kent St are both Group of 5 and rarely play OSU. Neither are OSU’s little brother because neither are even in the same family as OSU.

Texas A&M. They reference their big brother in their fight song ffs. It doesn’t get more “little brother” than that

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A&M They literally had their baseball coach negotiating with Texas while in the CWS final.

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We have a winner

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Has to be one of these:

Auburn
Texas A&M
Oklahoma State

All cow colleges. All have severe little brother complex.

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One of those three at least has won a CFB National Championship in the current century, and probably has an argument to have played in another ('04).

It is Aggie. Some have written Michigan State, but Michigan State since WWII had 2 national championships in Football to Michigan's 2.5 and Michigan state has two national basketball championships versus 1 for Michigan.

Texas A&M has nothing compared to Texas. Auburn has national championships in football. Oklahoma State has national championships in basketball in 1945 and 1946.

Michigan State is not really for a few reasons. Izzo has owned basketball for 30 years, although Beilein had his two finals. Dantonio flipped football for a while. But, also, normal kids from Michigan high schools can't get into Michigan anymore. It's like an ivy league school where you either get freak smart kids or legacies or kids of famous people. Most students in Michigan high schools can't relate to U of M. You can say that leads to more big brother/little brother animosity, but at some point it's just two different tracks. To some extent, MSU is now the school for kids from the State of Michigan.

It has to be South Carolina, once we take Aggy out of the equation.

I would imagine Idaho feels pretty jealous of Boise State.
They used to be in the same conference playing for the governors trophy from 1971 until 2010.
Idaho had won 15 of 17 from ‘82 until ‘98, then Boise State became Boise State we now know and won 12 in a row and they haven’t played since 2010 after Boise left the WAC.
Meanwhile Idaho has been relegated to a FCS school.


Idaho hasn’t won a conference title or made the ncaa tourney in 35 years in basketball.
Boise had made 8 tourneys in that time, and have made the last 3 tourneys. Fun fact, they have the most tourney appearances without a win at 0-10.


I have no idea how Idaho fans feel towards Boise State, but I’d have to imagine they would have a lot of why can’t that be us feelings.

Reminds me of Michigan’s Mike Hart famously calling Michigan St “little brother”.

Michigan St proceeded to win something like 6 out of next 8