It’s no secret that there is a major college rivalry between the University of Virginia and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which is also known more commonly as Virginia Tech. The majority of people who live in Charlottesville are more likely to be U.V.a fans because it is the local college and it is more natural to support them, but there are some fans living in Charlottesville that support Virginia Tech.  9.5% of the Charlottesville High School students that responded to my survey recorded that they supported Virginia Tech for various reasons for instance one response said, “That is where my grandpa went and I will be attending Virginia Tech when I finish high school.” Another response said, “My sister goes there.” It is common for people living in Charlottesville to support Virginia Tech because they have family attending the university, or have had past family members attend the college. 

Sports are a major part of this college rivalry as well, supporters of every U.V.a. sports team greatly anticipate the matchups against Virginia Tech. On November 29th, The U.V.a football team faced the Virginia Tech for the yearly Commonwealth Cup. This series between the two colleges dates back to 1895, making the rivalry over a century old. After a long period of anguish and failure, Virginia won the contest for the first time in 15 years. Freshman Graham Morrison  was well aware of this important statistic, “VT has beaten U.Va. for the past 15 years and finally Virginia took over and ended their winning streak.” Hundreds of U.Va. spectators rushed onto the field and celebrated the victory with the football players themselves. Sophomore Pieter Heming Halverson-Taylor described his experience “It was really fun, people were sliding and falling. One person got shoved into a camera and it got packed to the point where people were shoving each other. People were getting stretched out.”  Football is the sport when the tension is the highest, but it is not the only college sport in which the rivalry exists. Basketball, soccer, baseball, all mark their calendars when for the day they have games against the Hokies and those games typically have a higher attendance.

This rivalry means a lot to both teams and has even created various profane catch phrases. The hatred for Virginia Tech has become a standard among U.Va. followers and this rivalry will continue to create highly anticipated intense, sporting events.