A look at Auburn's premier rotating Eastern Division rivalry

As many of you here are quick to point out, the Auburn/Vanderbilt series has turned into quite the budding rivalry as of late - Vanderbilt currently owns a 2-game winning streak over the defending SEC Champions, dating back to 2008.

Now obviously, the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry is the top cross-division rivalry in the conference, held between Auburn and Georgia. But as far as Auburn is concerned, recent history has bumped the Tigers/Commodores contest up to number 2 in importance.

This may be surprising to some, especially fans of teams that at one time shared prominent rivalry status with the "back-on-top" Tigers. Gators, Volunteers, and even Gamecocks and Yankees may be wondering, "Well, what about us?"

Let's take a look at the numbers, starting at the turn of the century:

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Vanderbilt: 2-5
- 2-game winning streak (2008)

Florida: 2-4
- 3-game losing streak (2006)

Missouri: 0-1
- 1-game losing streak (2013)

South Carolina: 0-5
- 7-game losing streak (1996)

Tennessee: 0-6
- 6-game losing streak (2003)

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As the numbers indicate, Vanderbilt has surpassed Auburn's longtime rival Florida in the "game-importance" department, having collected as many wins against the Tigers this century as the rest of the contenders combined. It's a shame that recent conference expansion has limited this rivalry's ability to bud into an even-more heated contest than it already is, until some other programs feel like taking up the slack.