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Feelings on permanent SEC east opponents?

Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:20 pm
Posted by PiscesTiger
Concrete, WA
Member since Feb 2004
53696 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:20 pm
I wanted to know what your thoughts are on LSU always having to play Florida and rotating everyone else. For a long period of time, Kentucky was a non-movable opponent as well. I think we are stuck with Florida and there are ups and downs to it. I think this might even be something never ever changed due to Aub/UGA and Bama/TN. Here are the west's eastern permanent rivals:

LSU - UF
ALA - UT
AUB - UGA
Ole Miss - Vandy
State - Kentucky
Arky - S Carolina


Why I think it's not such a bad thing:

1) All matchups are pretty even. It might be different if, say, State had to play FLA every year. Perhaps the most lopsided of the rivalries is actually Ole Miss and Vandy. Vandy hasn't been to a bowl game in 26 years and Ole Miss has been to three since 2000. Every other matchup is almost like a mirror (and Ole Miss mirrors Vandy quite a bit as of late).

2) The obvious hatred between a few of these. Bama and Tennessee have more hatred than any two in the SEC. UGA and Auburn is the south's oldest rivalry. LSU and Florida are currently the respective kings of their divisions over the last decade. State and KY is nothing to sneeze at anymore. SC and Arkansas was a "forced" rivalry, but it's worked out well.

3) The mirroring thing again...Florida and LSU both have 2 NC's over the last 12 years. Alabama and Tennessee both won one NC in the 90's. Auburn and UGA seem to both get screwed somehow when it comes to a shot at a title, but both have recent SEC titles and no national titles. State and UK had their best seasons in '07 in quite some time, with both making bowl games. Ole Miss and Vandy are currently the bottom feeders of their respective divisions. Ark and SC - the loser has had a rough go at finding a bowl slot.

Would you like to see any changes or always keep it this way? Do you like that we rotate every two years with TWO teams and not just ONE like we once did. Just something to think about...
Posted by thunderbird1100
GSU Eagles fan
Member since Oct 2007
71490 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:25 pm to
I like it and think the matchups are pretty fair. The bigger boys play the bigger boys and the smaller frys play the smaller frys. It creates good rivalries too
Posted by kclsufan
Show Me
Member since Jun 2008
12097 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:25 pm to
Give the strength of the 2 programs (LSU-UF), it's a good thing. Keeps our SOS high, which in the end makes for better teams, and makes for some great games. Other conferences wish they had matchups like this.
This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 9:27 pm
Posted by JPLSU1981
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2005
28210 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:27 pm to
Because it's pretty even, I'm Ok with it.

LSU-Florida
Aub-Geo
Bama-Tenn

those are the three that I'm most concerned with, and those are all three fairly close in "schedule difficulty" with Florida and LSU getting the short end of the stick, if there is one.

If Ole Miss ever got decent at football on a consistent basis, I don't think it would be fair that they get to play Vandy ever year, but I don't know that Ole Miss or State will ever be consistently competing for SEC titles year-in-year-out ... there's just not enough talent in that state to support two big-time winners in the SEC along with Southern Miss. So until Ole Miss does become competitive (which may never happen again), I'm not too worried about the current set up.

But all-in-all, at this point I think it's Ok ... I see no reason to change it yet until we have some conference shift-ups in a couple years that is inevitable.
This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 9:29 pm
Posted by Suntiger
STG or BR or somewhere else
Member since Feb 2007
35452 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:31 pm to
It kinda sucked in the 90's getting blown out by Florida almost every year, but now that both teams are powers I kinda like it. It is turning into quite a rivalry and I think it helps us in recruiting also.

Posted by apacheba
Member since Feb 2007
870 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:34 pm to
quote:

LSU-Florida
Aub-Geo
Bama-Tenn

Etched in stone



This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 9:34 pm
Posted by DORSEYmakesTEBOWcry
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2007
644 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:37 pm to
I personally couldn't imagine not playing Florida every year. Is is a "historic" rivalry? No but it is normally the second biggest game on our schedule next to Auburn.
Posted by clamdip
Rocky Mountain High
Member since Sep 2004
20300 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:40 pm to
well, if by "historic" you mean on the level of Bama-Tenn or AU-UGA, then most definitely not.

but, a lot of LSU fans forget or never knew that LSU and Florida had a good series going in the 60s and 70s and it blossomed into a good rivalry in the 80s.

hating florida is one of my passtimes. don't muss it up.
Posted by el tigre
your heart
Member since Sep 2003
49712 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:42 pm to
quote:

Do you like that we rotate every two years with TWO teams and not just ONE like we once did. Just something to think about


we should rotate every 2 years with 3 East teams each rotation. It's retarded how we do it now. In this stupid system you can play at a school for 4 years and never see every SEC venue. I think it's a shame that Peyton Manning never played in tiger stadium.

The fairest way to do it is rotate 3 teams, 2 years on and 2 years off. So Bama and Tennessee don't play every year....tough shite. bama has auburn, and Tennessee has Florida. Get over it.
This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 9:43 pm
Posted by DORSEYmakesTEBOWcry
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2007
644 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:43 pm to
quote:

well, if by "historic" you mean on the level of Bama-Tenn or AU-UGA, then most definitely not.

but, a lot of LSU fans forget or never knew that LSU and Florida had a good series going in the 60s and 70s and it blossomed into a good rivalry in the 80s.

hating florida is one of my passtimes. don't muss it up.


Agreed. If you ask me who our biggest rivals are I say:
1. Auburn
2. Florida
3. Alabama

I understand with Saban going to Alabama, alot of people say that is our biggest rivalry, but I don't see it that way.

But by some people's iterpretation(especially older) Ole Miss is still a huge rivalry, and so is Tulane.
Posted by lsutiger77
Jackson Mississippi
Member since Jan 2005
118 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:46 pm to
Ole Miss' playing Vandy while we played Florida was what put OM in the position to "tie" us for the West title in 2003. While it's true that there's not much difference among the permanent opponents for the three strongest teams in the West, it would be better to compare apples to apples in deciding divisional championships. I would decide divisional championships based on division records only.
Posted by CHEEEEESE
Pres. of the Mike Lowery Fan Club
Member since May 2006
10476 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:48 pm to
i wish we had kentucky instead so that i could do the bourbon trail and go to keeneland every other year
Posted by PiscesTiger
Concrete, WA
Member since Feb 2004
53696 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:48 pm to
Well, keep in mind that Ole Miss cleaned UF's clock in Gainesville and we didn't. Ole Miss, had they not fricked up losing to Memphis and TTU earlier in the year, would have been playing for a national title against us and it would have likely been #3 vs. #4 instead of #15.

Now, we won the west...not them. Thank God we won that game, though. Biggest game in Oxford's history.
Posted by Raz
Member since Oct 2006
8359 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:49 pm to
I like playing florida every year.
Posted by JJ27
Member since Sep 2004
61866 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 9:49 pm to
Playing Florida instead of Vandy damn near kept LSU out of the title game in 03. If they play Vandy instead, LSU is undefeated and there isn't as much controversy with OU/USC.
Posted by JPLSU1981
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2005
28210 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 10:03 pm to
quote:

I would decide divisional championships based on division records only.


There's an idea ... I could be on board for that. I guess the negatives would be that the inter-divisional games wouldn't have as much impact except for the race for a national title and a better bowl game. That's a big negative, though, I'd hate for an LSU-Florida, Georgia-Auburn, or Bama-Tenn to lose some of its magnitude.

So, after thinking about it, I wouldn't like that. I love the fact that the SEC is the only conference that has huge games just about Every week of the season. The SEC is pretty much always in the national spotlight, week-in-week-out.
This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 10:04 pm
Posted by PiscesTiger
Concrete, WA
Member since Feb 2004
53696 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 10:11 pm to
Auburn/UGA will never be denied, so neither will LSU and UF.
Posted by Volvagia
Fort Worth
Member since Mar 2006
52884 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 10:22 pm to
quote:

LSU and Florida are currently the respective kings of their divisions over the last decade.




UGA may have something to say about that.

UF has only been really good for the past 2 years.

And my only problem with the permament opponents issue is the fact that in determining divisional champs, overall record is considered. Therefore some teams have an advantage to win their division.

They need to change the rules so that only the round robin results of interdivision play count, and the East results are used as a tiebreaker only if head to head fails as well.

It was better for the conference as a whole with UF winning the title and LSU blowing a team out in a BCS bowl...but I still think we got robbed in 06. We may be back to back BCS champs right now.
Posted by el tigre
your heart
Member since Sep 2003
49712 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 10:26 pm to
quote:

I love the fact that the SEC is the only conference that has huge games just about Every week of the season.


we could still have big games if we rotated 3 teams every 2 years. For example:

we play:
Florida
South Carolina
Kentucky

for 2 years, then alternate the following in for 2 years and keep the rotation going forward:

UGA
Tennessee
Vandy

we still have huge Eastern games every year, and you get a chance as a player to experience SEC football in all 12 stadiums, and it's fair to all.
This post was edited on 8/13/08 at 10:27 pm
Posted by Tiger Phil
I see burnt orange everywhere
Member since Nov 2007
1660 posts
Posted on 8/13/08 at 10:26 pm to
Clamdip, tell us how you really feel...

Personally, I love playing Florida every year. I also love seeing Alabama/Tennessee and Auburn/Georgia every season.

But I'll always hate Alabama most.

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