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Why did we never play Auburn before divisons?
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:57 am
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:57 am
From about the early 1940's until we split into divisions (so about 50 years), we only played Auburn 8 times! I feel like that's pretty crazy for any conference foe to only play about 8 times in 50 years. Does anybody know why SEC scheduling was so weird until divisional alignment?
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:59 am to jlovel7
Auburn had long standing rivalries with Bama, UGA, Tenn, and Florida. Just not enough room. Meanwhile, LSU played MSU and Ole Miss and, for some reason, Kentucky a lot.
I have no idea how the 'rotation' worked before SEC expansion, but I blame Bama.
I have no idea how the 'rotation' worked before SEC expansion, but I blame Bama.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:02 am to jlovel7
No I don't know why, but have seen it explained here before.
What I do know is that the CURRENT division alignment is also terrible and we are not far off that pace for meeting the East teams as often as we played Auburn 40's-80's.
What I do know is that the CURRENT division alignment is also terrible and we are not far off that pace for meeting the East teams as often as we played Auburn 40's-80's.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:03 am to clamdip
quote:
Auburn had long standing rivalries with Bama, UGA, Tenn, and Florida. Just not enough room. Meanwhile, LSU played MSU and Ole Miss and, for some reason, Kentucky a lot.
I have no idea how the 'rotation' worked before SEC expansion, but I blame Bama.
we played Florida a lot too. We've played them every year since 1971
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:05 am to alumni95
There were permanent opponents Ole Miss MSU Bama Florida and Kentucky and one rotating opponent so you didn't see them very often maybe once in a decade.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:05 am to lsufball19
Not just since 1971. We actually had a pretty good streak going even before then. From 1953-1967 we played without interruption. So we've basically played continuously since 1953 with a small 4 year break in the late 60's. Why people want to drop this game amazes me. It's a good game and I like to keep playing them. What really needs to happen is evening out the playing field by having more rotating opponents for each team.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:10 am to jlovel7
steve shaw is responsible.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:22 am to jlovel7
Rotating Opponents!!!! Don't you know that the world will stop rotating if the Gumps don't get to play the Hillbillies and the Barners don't get to play the Dawgs!!!!
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:35 am to LSUDonMCO
Often times SEC teams only played 6 conference games back then. I remember after Tulane dropped out of the SEC, LSU even had a "designated SEC game" against a non conference team. Seems like this happened a couple of years.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:35 am to jlovel7
LSU didn't play Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt or Auburn very much during the time frame you reference. There were no conference requirements for the number of games played or how often you rotated member schools as opponents, if at all. It wasn't until 1982 that the SEC officially adopted a six-game conference schedule. As an example, LSU won the SEC in 1970 with a 5-0-0 record. Tennessee also played five SEC games but the rest of the league played six or seven regular season SEC games that year.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:37 am to clamdip
quote:
for some reason, Kentucky a lot.
Kentucky showed up on LSU's schedule annually around 1950, when Bear Bryant coached there. Then Bear went to A&M, and the aggies started showing up on LSU's schedule regularly. When Bryant went to Alabama in 1958, LSU and Alabama started playing each other every year (starting in '64).
Bear figured out he could make his teams some money playing in Tiger Stadium. Vaught had already figured it out, as had others.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 1:00 pm to WildTchoupitoulas
quote:
Bear figured out he could make his teams some money playing in Tiger Stadium.
Maybe, but the real reason was his personal relationship with Cholly Mac. They were very good friends.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 1:11 pm to KiwiHead
quote:
Maybe, but the real reason was his personal relationship with Cholly Mac. They were very good friends.
Not just that, McClendon actually played for Bryant at Kentucky.
But Bryant was scheduling games with LSU before McClendon became the NC at LSU.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 1:14 pm to Duckie
quote:
steve shaw is responsible.
Got to luv it why not kick him in the nuts while he name is one the board today!!!
Posted on 9/22/16 at 1:33 pm to jlovel7
quote:
Why did we never play Auburn before divisons?
Have you been to Auburn? Not exactly a Travel Channel destination. We should have considered ourselves lucky. In fact, it may have been our choice.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 2:19 pm to jlovel7
SEC scheduling wasn't formalized back then. LSU had annual games with Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida, Kentucky and, starting in the early '60s, Alabama. In addition, we had annual series outside of SEC play with Texas A&M, Rice and Tulane (which was an SEC game until the mid-'60s). That's eight games out of what was only a 10-game schedule until the early '70s. With only two other slots available, there wasn't much room for games against Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt or Georgia Tech, which was also in the SEC until the mid-'60s. We went 25 years from 1953 to 1978 without playing Georgia at all, but that was partly because of a riot that broke out after a game in Athens in the early '50s. Sometimes we didn't have any other SEC teams on the schedule besides our annual five (six until Tulane left the SEC). We did have sporadic games with Tennessee and Auburn from time to time in the '60s and into 1970, but it was never an annual thing.
Beginning in '72, shortly after college football moved to the 11-game schedule and the SEC was down to 10 teams, the SEC went to a six-game schedule with five permanent opponents and one rotating slot for the other four teams. Under that arrangement, LSU met Auburn in '72 and '73, Tennessee in '74 and '75, Vandy in '76 and '77 and Georgia in '78 and '79. The pattern repeated from 1980-87 with the same four teams in 2-year increments in the same order: Auburn in '80 and '81, Tennessee in '82 and '83, Vandy in '84 and '85, and Georgia in '86 and '87.
Starting in 1988, the SEC went to a 7-game conference schedule with 5 permanent and 2 rotating opponents, so you would play each team at least twice every four years. We played Auburn and Tennessee in '88 and '89, Georgia and Vandy in '90 and '91. Unfortunately, that arrangement only lasted through one rotation of four years because expansion occurred in '92 and changed everything.
Beginning in '72, shortly after college football moved to the 11-game schedule and the SEC was down to 10 teams, the SEC went to a six-game schedule with five permanent opponents and one rotating slot for the other four teams. Under that arrangement, LSU met Auburn in '72 and '73, Tennessee in '74 and '75, Vandy in '76 and '77 and Georgia in '78 and '79. The pattern repeated from 1980-87 with the same four teams in 2-year increments in the same order: Auburn in '80 and '81, Tennessee in '82 and '83, Vandy in '84 and '85, and Georgia in '86 and '87.
Starting in 1988, the SEC went to a 7-game conference schedule with 5 permanent and 2 rotating opponents, so you would play each team at least twice every four years. We played Auburn and Tennessee in '88 and '89, Georgia and Vandy in '90 and '91. Unfortunately, that arrangement only lasted through one rotation of four years because expansion occurred in '92 and changed everything.
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 2:22 pm
Posted on 9/22/16 at 2:57 pm to jlovel7
We did... you're just too young to know about it.
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