Not even a little bit. If you've travelled with the team throughout the conference and seen the fervor with which every SEC fanbase burns with the desire of beating LSU you'd understand what I mean. Since the current run of success starting in 2000, every SEC west school marks the calendar mentally for the LSU game. Tiger players and fans do this as well. Facing the SECw opponents and perennial eastern opponent Florida amounts to one colossal rivalry for LSU fans each year. 'Bama and Ole Miss are definitely the top two; 'Bama just because they've been the captain of the SEC forever and really rubbed the Tiger nations nose in the eleven-year run from '71-'81 which old-timers like me won't soon forget. Ole Miss because once upon a time that was THE rivalry of the deep south and one of the top five in the nation along with 'Bama-Auburn. The passion died down as Ole Miss endured a sustained period of mediocrity but I see some of that intensity being renewed in recent years. Being right there with UF as the top teams of the past decade and playing them annually has provided yet another arena for Tiger nation to feel intense passion, though I think there's a greater degree of respect for one another than is felt for the SECw foes. We're LSU and the south is our rivalry. Don't need nothin' else IMO.

This post was edited on 12/30/10 at 1:52 pm