Well, the SEC’s going to adopt a 9-game schedule with three permanent opponents. Who would YOU prefer LSU keep on the schedule?
Dee
We have to keep Bama for sure. There’s no greater joy (and depth of despair) than playing Bama. My first ever LSU game was LSU v Bama the last year Saban was our coach and I hope LSU v Bama will be my last game one day.
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I also want to keep Florida because that game has brought some of the craziest and funniest moments (the shoe throw penalty and Brad Wing’s taunt come to mind).
Finally, the Aggies. Because 1) they annoy me 2) they treat us like their Super Bowl (print the cups) and 3) because we have a 32-24-3 lead in that series, and we deserve a least one easier victory out of the three guaranteed games.
Evan
Alabama, Florida, Arkansas
There is no point in listing three where Alabama is not included. Do not waste your time. It is a money-maker game for the conference. No yearly matchup produces as many future NFL All-Pros as this one. And even if that weren’t the case, I’d still want it. Even though the Big Man is gone, I can’t imagine it ever not feeling good to beat them. It’s here to stay.
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Losing Florida is something I’m prepared to be very angry about if it happens. I hate them, but boy do I love to hate them. I would be very sad if I was robbed of the chance to hate them every year. We are Batman and The Joker to each other. I think you could argue this is the most heated rivalry between schools that are not in the same state or states that border each other. I think your closest contenders are Army-Navy (which certainly means something but I don’t think the type of hatred is comparable) and USC-Notre Dame, which hasn’t been relevant in some time.
Arkansas will probably be my most controversial pick, so let me explain. I wasn’t in favor of them being one of three initially, but then I realized Arkansas could fill the void of something we lack under the current structure: a true Rivalry Week opponent. Right now we are saddled with Oklahoma because Arky and Mizzou have committed to each other. However, I think The Battle of the Boot and OU-Mizzou will end up getting moved to be Rivalry Week matchups. We are the only four SEC teams without established rivalry games, so this makes everything nice and even. In a perfect world, OU and Mizzou will break up and play Bedlam and Border War to end the season, but this format allows us to transition to that easily. In a more perfect world, we play Tulane in Rivalry Week.
The two that I strongly considered as my third pick were Ole Miss and Auburn. If not for the Rivalry Week hangup, I’d probably choose the Rebs. The history is deeper and there’s been some real juice ever since Lane arrived. If my Tulane dream magically becomes reality, I reserve the right to make this trade. As for Auburn, remember how I said don’t even consider not being paired up with Alabama? Well the opposite is true for Auburn since they will certainly be locked into Bama and Georgia. They will beg for their third to be Vandy or Mississippi State. They will probably win that fight, so I’m not getting my hopes up.
Max
Is it a waste of time to exclude Alabama here? Yes, but if I’m known for anything in this world, it’s dying on hills and yelling about things I can’t control. Alabama is not a real rivalry. In a moment in time, it was one of the best in the conference, but the conditions that forced the two schools into the proverbial cage are completely gone. It starts and ends with Saban, the bitterness of his departure growing with every superteam and every ring he dragged back to Tuscaloosa. They were the monster at the end of the driveway, and it could have been our monster, not our predator. That feeling was exacerbated by circumstance. Not only did we have to watch that, it stood in our way. When we did once kill the monster, it rose again to cut our throats and steal a national title. With the SEC West a memory, they’re no longer a barrier. Regardless of that, the coach that made that barrier unique is gone. The game’s implications are reduced, Alabama is no longer the measuring stick, and there’s no longer a connection to LSU. They’re rivals in the same way the Giants and Patriots were rivals: Temporarily. LSU’s rivals, though we are unique in relative rival-lessness, to me are Ole Miss of course, Florida, and Auburn. That’s who they should have.
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I know it’s a waste of time, but if you want an Alabama moneymaker with NFL super-rosters, standings implications, and at least a little bit of narrative connection, give them Georgia every year. LSU-Alabama as it was is gone. Cherish it for what it was, but realize that it is gone. It’s coasting now on an inertia that will not carry it through the decade.
Adam
Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Auburn.
Ole Miss goes without explanation. Texas A&M is probably the one rivalry with the most natural heat to it. And there’s not a single rivalry in college football that has produced as many bangers over the last 40 years as The Barn Burner has. I don’t care about Auburn having a heavy three-team pod with Bama, Georgia, and LSU with it. That’s coward talk. There are six other SEC games to fill out and those aren’t going to be any easier. I don’t know a single Auburn or LSU fan who doesn’t love the shit out of the rivalry.
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Poseur
I think two absolutely non-negotiable teams are Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Both are historic rivalries which go back throughout the history of the program, and they have managed to keep that same spark in recent years. Look, A&M is annoying, but tat’s precisely wat makes them such a great rivalry game. And let’s be honest, a lot of the hatred is due to the fact our schools are a lot alike (engineering schools, huge ROTC tradition, fanatical fanbase that is downright terrifying to outsiders…)
Which leaves us with that third slot. There’s a lot of contenders. Mississippi St is our oldest and most frequently played rival. The creation of an intense LSU-Auburn rivalry was one of the primary benefits of the 1990s expansion, and you’d hate to lose that. Florida and LSU have an older and more intense rivalry than anyone suspects, even if it has gotten a little ugly in recent years. Arkansas would kill to have us as a rival, and it at least harkens back to Huey Long from our perspective.
But who are we kidding? It’s Bama. It’s always been Bama. Cholly Mack was the first former assistant to beat the Bear, and then spent a decade failing to do it again in the most painfully close ways. The rivalry moved into its supercharged era in the Saban Era and yes, Max is right, it will never be quite like that again. But still… it was pretty damned intense before that era. And most importantly, Bama has marked LSU as its equal in a way it never has with its other rivals. Auburn is the Cow College. The reason Bama fans consider the 90s the dark ages is its the only time Tennessee had the upper hand in the rivalry. Losing 9 of 10 to the Vols is their program nadir. But LSU? Look, they bring it for us. Always have. They schedule their off week before us. We were frequently their toughest game. Even the Bear treated us an equal. We’re their #1 rivalry not because of any gimmick or narrative, but because that’s how Bama has marked LSU. We’re their game that matters. And its how we measure ourselves.
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Bring on Bama.
Saul
Ole Miss, Florida, Alabama.
Ole Miss is an easy one for me, lot of history and the games always deliver and recently high scoring.
Perhaps the most fun one? Maybe because I live in Florida, but when LSU beats them it’s such a fun time, and the games are also seemingly always great. And the uniform matchup is class.
Many ways to go with the last one, but how do you leave off Bama? One of the best “new age” rivalries after divisions were introduced, and it’s become a staple now. Think of the big LSU moments of the 21st century and a lot include beating Bama. Has to be in.
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Zach
Does the SEC truly care about ALL of these quote/unquote historic rivalries or just the ones that the two Alabama schools play every year? Because if the SEC cares about these historic rivalries, well then LSU simply HAS to play Mississippi State since it’s the most played game in our history and State’s second most played game in their history.
What’s probably going to end up happening, however, is LSU gets stuck with Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. LSU-Alabama’s been the SEC’s biggest game for the past 20 years, the Ole Miss game is the historic rivalry, and the A&M game’s gotten some juice lately.
