re: The LSU/Florida rivalry

"If the whole point was to have a "permanent rival" then why weren't the 41 games played vs UK more important than the 35 games played vs Florida prior to 1992?"


This was the exact reason that the idea of giving up the Tennessee Alabama annual rivalry was mentioned by the SEC Main Office to both schools....It was simply not going to happen given these are the #1 and #2 schools in the conference as far as winning % goes. No giving up of the UT-UA rivalry meant a permanent UF game for LSU while every other west school landed a much softer annual East opponent.

Say what you want about the LSU-Florida being great rivalry...It is not a "natural" rivalry like AU-UGA, UA-UT, UGA-UF. LSU ended up with an embarassing 2-14 record in the stretch from 1988-2002 because of Joe Dean's shi*ty football hires.

Right now, very few people without gray hair are cognizant of the fact that nationally LSU was perceived as a MUCH better program than UF pre-Spurrier.