re: Do like like having an in-state rival?

Yes and no. As an Ole Miss fan pointed out, not for recruiting purposes, otherwise thr Egg bowl is such a huge thing in the state. It was a game every Thanksgiving night that got a lot of exposure.

The thing is, the state of Mississippi is so small and until recently when Southern Miss tanked there were too many schools to spread that talent on. If we had one big University in state (like Lsu -they have no instate competition) then we'd probably kick a lot of arse every year. There is a lot of NFL talent in Mississippi, but the state is too small to split it up like we do.