LSU Wants to End Annual Football Series with Florida, But UF Doesn't

by Year2 on Mar 1, 2012 8:57 PM EST in SEC Football

I was wrong earlier today when I said that there wasn't any interesting news coming out of the SEC athletics directors meeting this week. LSU AD Joe Alleva dropped this interesting bit of news:

LSU’s permanent opponent has been Florida, and athletic director Joe Alleva said both schools are interested in ending that scheduling staple.

For most observers, the LSU-Florida series is the third-most important permanent rivalry behind the storied Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee series. In my experience, it's also a pretty popular series among the two fan bases. It wasn't much during its first dozen years; Steve Spurrier went 11-1 against the Tigers as they largely floundered in the Curley Hallman/Gerry DiNardo era. It has been one of the best series in the conference since then though.

Those are reasons why it's a surprise to hear this from Alleva. However, CBS's Brett McMurphy says it's not quite so clear from Florida's side:

Florida sources told CBSSports.com that the Gators have given no indication they want their series to end with LSU... Alleva told the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate the Tigers and Gators were interested in ending their series, but Florida sources disputed that to CBSSports.com.

If this is the case, then one wonders where Alleva got his information from.

Alleva did say that most of the ADs prefer an eight-game schedule, but the question still remains whether the designated rival system will continue. The votes on the matter from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Tennessee are obviously going to be in favor of keeping the system. Florida, for now, sounds like it's in favor, and Missouri definitely will vote yes if it remains in the East. One of MU's top priorities is making sure it plays Texas A&M every year because it recruits heavily in the Lone Star State.

One possible solution Alleva alluded to in his comments is having some schools keep designated rivals while others don't, though Vanderbilt is staunchly against that idea. The ADs will meet again next week, and they don't have a deadline set for coming up with a permanent scheduling solution. I have doubts as to whether they'll nail it down before the new TV negotiations begin.

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Idea...

Move Bama and Auburn to the East. Move Vandy and Missouri to the West. Everyone gets what they want but the East will be much stronger.

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

by gibbygoat on Mar 1, 2012 9:37 PM EST reply actions

Would Tenn-Vandy still be a rivalry then?

by fotodog on Mar 1, 2012 11:09 PM EST up reply actions

I liked this idea back in September

but the problem was that it makes the east too hard. Out of the 20 SEC Championship games, the teams in that version of the east have won 16. LSU is the only team in the new west to have ever won in Atlanta and Arky is the only other team to have been there.

You name it, I hate it.

by Mark Mandingo on Mar 2, 2012 8:46 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

1998 SEC Championship

Tenneessee – 24
Mississippi State – 14

by TheN8tureBoy on Mar 3, 2012 4:43 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think that is that big of a deal....

If so lets move Kentucky instead of Vandy.

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

by gibbygoat on Mar 2, 2012 12:16 AM EST reply actions

reply fail...

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

by gibbygoat on Mar 2, 2012 12:16 AM EST reply actions

What about a North/South division split?

North: Missouri, Kentucky, Ole Miss, UT, Bama, Vandy, Arky

South: LSU, Auburn, TAMU, UGa, UF, USCe, MSU

One protected rival
Auburn Bama
Missouri TAMU
Arky LSU
Ole Miss MSU
UF UT
and so on

It would solve the issue of protecting two of the three big rivalries, Auburn/UGA and Bama/UT, and it would make a lot of sense geographically with the other rivalries.

If need be, they could throw in a provision for a secondary protected rivalry to be rotated every 2 years. For example; UGa/UT, Bama/LSU or Bama/MSU, LSU/Ole Miss

And since people in the south may be a little sensitive to the idea of a North/South split we can come up with different names for the divisions, ala the B1G, such as Bourbon and Beer, Hillbillies and Hicks, Biscuits and Grits, Bacon and Eggs…

by Jumpn_JackFlash on Mar 2, 2012 12:55 AM EST reply actions

lol.

I vote Hillbillies and Hicks!

I thought about that too but it really just rearranges the problem… Mizzou is going to insist on playing Texas A&M every year, as they should, because most of their recruiting is in Texas. So, we take away one problem and add another. This one being more severe than just a rivalry but actually the lifeblood of one our schools.

Moving Bama and Auburn creates the least amount of problems but it may be a moot point if we add 2 more teams and split into 4 divisions. Then we can keep the rivalries and rotate teams faster than before.

16 teams is the best case scenario but the second best, if we don’t expand, is moving Bama and Auburn over and dumping the protected rivalries. I would miss playing LSU but there is more history with Auburn and Tennessee.

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

by gibbygoat on Mar 2, 2012 4:57 AM EST up reply actions

Who’s life blood are we taking away? I’m not saying this is perfect by any means, but neither is what we are headed towards. Mizzou still gets TAMU as it’s protected rival so I’m not sure where you see a problem there, and they get to be in the same division as Arky which looks like it has a chance to be a good rivalry of its own. And I don’t see how this could hurt Bama. Let’s face it, their Bama. They are going to recruit well no matter what division they are in.

And as an Aub, I’ve got to say I’d love the chance to get Arky off of our permanent schedule. That game always gives me nightmares. I still can’t get the visions of 2006 in JHS out of my head. And don’t even mention Matt Jones.

by Jumpn_JackFlash on Mar 2, 2012 10:04 AM EST up reply actions