re: SEC Teams Rivals

Everybody likes to tell us who our rival is or isn’t. The SEC has tried to make Arkansas, A&M and Florida our rivals. None of those have been accepted by LSU fans.

Auburn has never been a rival because we haven’t played them as much as most West teams historically. Ole miss was a rival 70 years ago when we also had a rival in Tulane. Those rivalries died as we no longer play Tulane with any consistency and Ole Miss just hasn’t kept up their end of the deal. (This is the route Alabama-Tennessee is currently on)
This leaves Alabama and Mississippi St. we have historically beat down Mississippi St. and have the longest series with them. They aren’t a rival but they feel like a little brother who we like to see do good every now and then. Alabama has not historically been a rival either. They have most wins against us out of all the teams we have played against. This has the potential to be a rivalry and will be determined by whether a post-Saban Alabama program can maintain some success against us. Pre-Saban there was no animosity with Alabama with the exception of the SEC headquarters being near their school and some perceived bias by officials towards them.