Springfield has had their fair share of success, and along with success, comes teams and characters that want to get in the way of any further success.
The rivals of Springfield have tried to do just that. Over the past decade, Springfield has had to face familiar teams, some having been established for the past 12 years, much like Springfield have been.
Each team wants a piece of Springfield, and some just want to get under the team's skin. Regardless, Springfield has enough rivalries from their decade-long success to entertain their fans come playoff time.
So, here are the five best Springfield' rivalries, ranked, in franchise history.
5. Springfield vs Salt Lake City
The Springfield Falcons weren't the same team in the early 2010s as they were in the late 2010s and 2020s, but they did make the playoffs all 3 times. One of those trips (2013) were cut short by Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City was a regular season matchup nightmare, and Springfield struggled to beat them, not many teams out west were better than Salt Lake City. Springfield contested as hard as they could, and never really came close.
Though the two teams never had a real spat, the Springfield' frustration from their inability to beat Salt Lake City made them a worthy opponent.
4. Springfield vs Houston
Springfield and Houston never had a nasty rivalry; rather, the two respectable franchises merely play for bragging rights in the famous Midwest rivalry as Springfield and Houston were always competing for the Midwest regional title that separates them.
Houston and Springfield were both at their peak in 2012, when Houston squeaked by Springfield in the 2012 National Semi-Finals behind Josh Christopher. Charlie Dawes was horribly outplayed in that series by Josh. That may have been their only noteworthy playoff series, but it was a fun one, nonetheless.
In recent years the dominance of Springfield has overwhelmed Houston, the additions of Paul Hammond and Conor McCaffrey has given Springfield a clear advantage in the rivarly.
3. Springfield vs Compton
The Compton Magic and the Springfield Falcons have combined for 10 AAU National Championship' appearances since 2014 and have had to go through one another in six of those appearances.
HOLY. HELL.
Springfield and Compton were never bad-blood rivals. They knew that, to get to an National Finals, those kinds of antics could only hurt, not help.
What you did get was smart, aesthetically-pleasing, close, sharp, star-studded basketball.
When Springfield swept Compton in 2014 en route to their AAU championship, Compton remembered and returned the favor in 2016. The series wasn't even close—Springfield were blown out by double digits in three of their four losses.
In 2017, the playoff series between Springfield and Compton was remarkably close, despite ending in five games—only one game was decided by more than six points in that series. Ever since then, the teams had various tight playoff games through 2023, when the rivalry was essentially ended.
2. Springfield vs Dallas
Much like the Compton vs. Springfield rivalry, the rivalry between Dallas and Springfield focuses on the dramatic (and successful) basketball played between the two teams.
In fact, Dallas are the only team in the West division to appear in the AAU Finals besides Compton and Springfield. Their prominence and consistent playoff presence has pit them against Springfield four times in the postseason since 2016.
Springfield have the edge, three games to one. Though the earlier playoff series (2016, 2018) weren't all important (since Dallas were a project-type team, running and gunning but never having a championship-caliber defense), the latter playoff matchups held a whole lot of meaning.
In 2021, Dallas turned the rivalry upside down, finally moving past the Springfield and (later) into the AAU Finals (though they would lose to Miami ). Brooks Bahr—a disciple of Will Jenkins in Springfield—took the reigns and led Dallas to elite contender status, though they never saw much success during Bahr's run aside from the 2021 AAU playoffs.
1. Springfield vs Phoenix
You knew the Phoenix Wildcats were going to be No. 1.
Sure, Phoenix has never gotten past the Springfield Falcons, and sure, all the time, Springfield showed the feisty Phoenix Wildcats who big brother was. But when we knew these two were going to play in the postseason, we watched, waiting for one team to draw first blood.
If you had to pick the bloodiest rivalry over the past decade, you had nowhere else to look except Springfield vs. Phoenix rivalry.
The first three playoff series of the decade (2015, 2018, 2020) between Springfield and Phoenix didn't hold much meaning. Phoenix had become a force in the West in 2020 under Jett Howard, but no one had expected Phoenix to get a title in their first year with Howard as their point guard.
The rivalry escalated about 300 notches in 2022.
In that infamous 2022 playoff series, four games involved either an ejection, a fight or lacerations. Both teams adjusted well and the series was tightly contested. Phoenix lost to Springfield in that series, but not without controversy—not only did the suspension of Amar'e Thompson and Bart Thomas hurt the Wildcats, but the suspensions were a result of the two merely leaving the bench when Clarence Davis tossed Jett Howard into the scorer's booth. Additionally, this series was one that came under intense scrutiny for its officiating.