Our team always seems to play much better against better competition. We seems to play our best when its against a team that should beat us easily and often struggle with teams we "should" beat. Is that a baseball phenomenon?
I think it depends on the make up of the team, some teams really rally around the big games and some seam to buckle into intimidation like when you have to play the Braves. Confidence and momentum are as big as anything in sports.