re: Hate, Respect, or General Apathy: LSU Fans & Other SEC Teams

It comes down to the following for me:

1) I do not hate any team. I do get bothered greatly by some fans of some teams than of others. The most bothersome fans to me (when they are winning and most vocal) are: Bama, Florida, Auburn and Ole Miss. TAMU just bothers me, with their HS goody-goody-pep squad like culture. The others. Tenn is next. The others I can mostly stand.

2) I respect the legit football-first-crazy culture of the following SEC schools: Bama, Auburn, UGA, TAMU, Florida, Tenn, Arkansas, USCe and of course LSU. The 2nd tier are not quite as fierce, but legit for sure: Ole Miss, Miss St, Mizz. UK and Vandy might as well be Indiana or Minnesota. Sorry about that UK and Vandy. You are out of place.

3) History and intensity of the actual games. Bama is the tops here, as the LSU-Bama rivalry is the tops in terms of national scope almost every year. Florida is next, in that it is the every-year game that matters most after Bama. Auburn, even though down of-late, offers a lot of legitimacy over the last decade also. Ole Miss is too inconsistent, but when relevant, can play the role of the spoiler. TAMU, while new, is intense when the game plays,past and will be moreso as the next 5-10 years unfold.

All these mixed together, for me, yields my "most hated list" (which I don't really hate, but to play along):
1)Bama
2)Florida
3)TAMU
4)Auburn
5)Ole Miss
6) Tenn (when we play them)
7) Arkansas (just not much fire there - mostly just admire their talent from time to time).