re: Arkansas-Missouri

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Why doesn't either fanbase embrace this rivalry game? It seems like both fanbases have reasons as to why it's not a rivalry, yet it's viewed that way from an outside perspective.

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I dont know anyone who views it as a rivalry game honestly. Fan of Arkansas or not.

There are currently two'ish age groups of fans in Arkansas...

1) Older generation who grew up hating Texas, Ole Miss, aTm to an extent, and still view those, mainly Texas, as the Hogs rival.

2) Current generation who grew up with Arkansas playing LSU on Black Friday to end the season from 1992 - 2013. That game mattered a lot. Something like from 1998 - 2011 or so, the LSU/Arkansas game had a lot of say in who won the SEC West and went to Atlanta.

I think with Missouri, it is just really forced. When Arkansas came in to the SEC in 1992, it had a history with Ole Miss and LSU...to an extent Alabama from Sugar Bowls, Georgia and Tennessee from Cotton Bowls...but really nothing of significance with Missouri other than a couple of second rate bowl meetings in the Independence Bowl (which Arkansas won big) and the Cotton Bowl (which Missouri won big).

Prior to joining the league, there was a meaningful game with Ole Miss. The hatred was there so much, that the series was cancelled for a while in the 60's because of the amount of fights that broke out between the fans. With LSU, there were the bowl meetings and prior to that the annual meetings in Shreveport. The Ice Bowl in the 1947 Cotton Bowl that ended in a 0-0 tie. The 1966 Cotton Bowl that LSU won that ended the Hogs 22 game win streak and lost Arkansas its shot at back to back national titles...Then you add in being in the same division with both of those and its more of a natural feel for a rivalry than anything with Missouri.