It's not the Eagles versus the Cowboys. Nor the Penguins against the Flyers. Nor the Lakers battling the Celtics.
But it still has all the makings of a great rivalry -- Penn and Temple on the volleyball court.
The rivalry has cooled off in recent years, as the two teams have not met in the four seasons since Penn coach Kerry Major took over the program.
"We haven't played Temple in the past four years for two reasons," Major said. "First of all, it was hard to fit in their schedule because the Atlantic 10 plays a huge double round-robin schedule.
"And second, we would've been killed by them."
But tonight's 7 p.m. meeting at the Palestra promises to be different. Penn (1-2) competed well last weekend against Dayton, a team whose playing level is similar to that of Temple (6-2), according to Major.
And despite eventually dropping a four-game match to the Flyers, the Quakers learned that they have raised their level of play over the past year.
"This is the first year we feel like we can compete with some of the top-level teams in the Atlantic 10," Major said.
The Quakers slated the match against Temple -- arguably the top team in the Philadelphia area -- in an effort to make their schedule tougher in September and prepare for the next two months of Ivy League play.
"What we're trying to do is strengthen our schedule and throw ourselves to the wolves a bit, test our weaknesses," Major said.
For that reason, and because Ivy League volleyball has moved to a double round-robin format this season, matches against teams like La Salle were dropped.
"We would like to play more Big 5 matches," Major said, "we just don't have room in our schedule anymore [because we're] playing double round-robin in the Ivy League."
The history between Penn and Temple goes back almost 30 years. The Quakers have faced the Owls more times than they have faced any other non-Ivy League opponent.
And in those 32 occasions, the Owls have come out on top 24 times.
But even with Penn's past poor showings against its neighbor, the 2001 Quakers aren't intimidated or nervous.
"I've been excited since we scheduled them last year," Major said. "I think it's exciting to play a crosstown rival because everyone knows who they are. We're going to have a lot of people at the match cheering against Temple, which is great."
And regardless of how tonight's matchup goes, Major feels the experience will be positive.
"Win or lose, I don't think we really lose anything," Major said, "because we're going to gain something from playing such a high-caliber team, regardless of the outcome."
And is there a possibility that Penn and Temple will continue to face each other every year in the future?
"I would love to play them every year," Major said. "I like establishing a rivalry, like the Drexel rivalry is always fun. You look forward to those games as much as you do Ivy League matches."
The Quakers-Owls rivalry may have cooled down for a little while, but the fire never died.
In fact, the rekindling has just begun.
