I think you have to look at who our main rival has been from a historical standpoint. From the beginning of :lsup: football until the mid 50's our main rival was Tulane. it was also assisted by the fact that TU is a :laflagwav school and traditionally pitted the rich boys against the poor boys. In addition, TU was an SEC school from 1933 until 1961. Unfortunately their program went downhill and has never regained it's earlier luster. From the mid 50's until the mid 70's it was Ole Miss. The Rebs had a number of great players and we went back and forth with them. the first "cuss" words I was ever allowed to use were "Go To Hell Ole Miss". Unfortunately their program went downhill and has never regained it's earlier luster. From the mid 70's until probably the late 90's, you could take your pick between Bammer or UF. In the Bear era, the Tide almost always beat us, in the Visor era UF almost always beat us. But they were knock down games, like true rivalries are. From '99 until present, it's been the Barn. The SEC West has been decided by almost every matchup. We have had smaller rivalries with Arkansas, Georgia, and UT, but nothing to match the above. Just my 2 cents worth.
Proud Tiger you're 100% correct. It has been talked about a million times on these boards and we will never be AU's biggest Rival. We have been AU's biggest game the past several years though from a conference standings point of view and the rivalry has had some hellacious(SP?) mometns in the past 15 or so years. But we'll never have the kind of hated rivalry that you guys have with Bama or OM/MSU, or UGA/GA Tech or FSU/UF, etc. And for that I am grateful in a way.
Well, this is actually a tough question because most big-time "rivalries" are well-known throughout college football. USC/ ND...Michigan/OSU....Florida/UGA...Florida/Florida State/Miami ...Texas/OU and finally Auburn/'Bama. But LSU doesn't have the lux. to be well-known throughout football as having a ledgit #1 rival. We've taken turns throwing punches with Florida, UGA, Auburn and Bama at various times and for various lengths of time, but none of which have stuck as our true "biggest rival" simply because Florida, Auburn and 'Bama each have other "rivals" that are considered nationally, as their true rival--and LSU isn't any of them. They've tried, in vain, to make Arkansas/LSU a big rival, but to be honest, it's lacked much punch. Outside of the hail mary pass to beat us in '02 (I believe), the best the Hogs have mustered against us was last season's game in which the Hogs didn't get blown out like they have the previous 2 times. In terms of which teams in the SEC I HATE the most, and absolutely enjoy beating them (which I guess is the definition of a "rival") is: 1. Florida --they're matched up with us annually and I just can't get the beatings we suffered at the hands of Spurrier's Gators all those times, that any "W" against the Gators (no matter what their record is at the time) is considered a BIG thing in my book--and beating them puts me on cloud nine for days! 2. Auburn --the West champ, since 2000, usually ends up being one of us. Plus I can't stand Tubby. 3. 'Bama -- similar to Florida in that for years, we just couldn't beat 'Bama. So beating them--especially in Baton Rouge, is nice. 4. Ole Miss-- history 5. Arkansas--at least we have some hardware to play for. Personally, I think LSU and Auburn should play for a Tiger Statue or something....
Hard for me to agree with an aubie but PT nailed this one. Even Tennessee is ahead of LSU in Bama's pecking order. There is probably more respect between Bama and LSU than any others though.
There is a difference between a traditional rival and a hot rivalry that must be understood. Bama and Auburn are traditional in-state rivals, always have been. LSU and Tulane are traditional in-state rivals, always have been. In these games it doesn't matter if both teams are contenders or neither for it to be a big game. Since Tulane left the SEC and really declined in football, LSU no longer plays them annually, so it's not the big deal that it was in the 1930's -1970's. What LSU also has is a hot rivalry with Auburn. It's a very recent thing, because before the West Division was formed, we rarely played Auburn at all. LSU's hot rivalry is whoever stands between LSU and the SEC championship. It was Ole Miss in the fifties and sixties, Alabama in the seventies and eighties, Florida in the nineties and right now it is Auburn. We get fired up to play the top contenders. In time the players change in the hot rivalry, but the traditional rivals never change. Georgia Tech is Georgia's traditional rival but they have a hot rivalry going on with Florida. __________________
Until we stopped playing them, Texas A & M was a big rival, and there's no team I'd rather see back on our rotation to played yearly.
As others have finely pointed out, LSU is not Auburn's main rival. Or 2nd place rival for that matter(which is Georgia). For the long term in the SEC, LSU's main rival still is Ole Miss. That rivalry will heat up again when both teams are competitive.
After having read all these posts it its clear to me that while they all have merit, LSU's biggest rival is who they play next. I look at each game with the same great anticipation as the next one to come. I hate who LSU plays next, whoever that may be, this makes them our biggest rival. Just my opinion.
After I read all these posts, it's clear to me that LSU fans are nowhere near being unanimous on who their biggest rival is.
