re: Anybody here want the LSU Florida rivalry to end?

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Sec did it to make it easier for Bama

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They did it to make it easier for FL! In reality they did it because we were already playing FL and KY every year. AL was playing TN every year, GA was playing AU every year, Ole Miss was playing Vandy and State playing KY every year. During the initial expansion each SEC Team had two permanent rivals not one.

Before the conference expansion we traditionally played SEC teams now in the East once every ten years or so and nobody complained.

In 1991 when the expansion was finalized AL and TN were programs pretty equal in stature. If anything TN was better than AL.

In 1991 LSU was a bottom dweller while FL was on its way to becoming one of the premier programs in the country and and didn’t complain about having FL as permanent rival. Later when the SEC decided to eliminate one of the two permanent East rivals LSU didn’t complain about keeping FL instead of KY.

LSU started to complain about FL as a permanent rival once the west started to become strong from top to bottom and LSU started to fall to the middle of the pack. I think Miles and Alleva started to beat this drum as a means to preserve their jobs.

Ironically, TN began to crumble as LSU became the dominant program in the SEC. LSU’s rise along with other SEC west teams led to many recruits staying home versus going to UT.