After watching a week full of court-storming and towel-covered faces, jubilation and disappointment, I thought about what makes college sports so special.
It’s the rivalries. The passion and pure hatred people feel toward other human beings just because of the name on the fronts of their jerseys.
It’s about watching Southern Illinois cheerleader Kristi Yamaoka, who suffered a broken neck and concussion after a 15-foot fall, still move her arms and cheer when the Saluki band played the fight song during the Missouri Valley Conference championship game.
When most collegiate sports fans think of big rivalries, memories of games between Duke and North Carolina on the hardwood, Michigan versus Ohio State on the gridiron and even “The Game” between Harvard and Yale are the most prominent and celebrated.
I also thought about LSU’s rivalries, or lack thereof.
First of all, let’s define the criteria of a rivalry.
1. A history of competitiveness – recent and in the past. A true rivalry exists when its the biggest game of the year for both teams.
2. Legendary figures and memorable games that highlight what the rivalry is all about.
3. Hatred by students and fans of both schools.
The first rivalry that usually comes to fans’ minds is LSU vs. Ole Miss – and rightfully so.
When LSU’s student section condemns an entire university to the hellfire below, there is no doubt the hatred exists.
Everybody knows about Billy Cannon’s “Halloween Run,” an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown that propelled the No. 1 Tigers to a 7-3 victory over the No. 3 Rebels in 1959. Fewer LSU fans seem to remember the 21-0 Sugar Bowl whooping the Rebels administered two months later to claim the national championship.
With famed Ole Miss coach John Vaught and the two illustrious quarterbacks of the Manning family, Ole Miss has no shortage of legendary figures on its side, either.
But the fire is dying out on this storied rivalry. The Tigers have won the previous four games, the last one by a 37-point margin in Oxford, Miss.
Tulane is LSU’s oldest rival, and the rivalry began when the Green Wave claimed a 34-point victory in LSU’s first football game in 1893. Tulane has not defeated LSU football since 1982, and the two teams have played only twice in the past decade.
The rivalry may renew itself when the two programs get together in each of the next five seasons.
But the rivalry still endures on the diamond. The Tigers improved their record since 2000 to 8-8 against the Green Wave with a 4-3 win on March 7.
LSU has ended Tulane’s season twice in the NCAA Regionals the past four years, but the Green Wave sent the Tigers packing in the Super Regionals on their way to a runner-up finish in the College World Series in 2001.
Many LSU fans will argue that other football rivalries between LSU and schools like Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas and Georgia are big rivalries.
While the games are usually exciting and enjoyable, these universities don’t consider LSU their main rival.
The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn is the most important game on the teams’ schedules.
Sure, everybody likes to make jokes about the Crimson Tide and laugh at the War Eagle/Tigers/Plainsmen of Auburn, but they are not the games of the season.
“The Boot Game” between LSU and Arkansas is important, but it’s nothing more than an SEC contest with a trophy.
Despite playing Georgia for two of the last three SEC Championships, the Tigers do not annually square off with the Bulldogs. Georgia also has a date with SEC East foe Florida in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
Although the Gators and Tigers see each other every year, Florida has bigger fish to fry in its own state. Games against the Seminoles and the Hurricanes usually take precedence over the Tigers.
LSU fans might have to look to the hardwood to find a rivalry.
Cue the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Lady Tigers have challenged the Lady Vols for SEC supremacy recently; they have won two of the last four meetings and ended the Lady Vols 64-game home conference winning streak. LSU received a one seed and for the first time since 1987, neither Tennessee or Connecticut received a one seed.
But the Lady Vols have won when it counts – they beat the Lady Tigers twice in the SEC Championship and once in the 2004 Final Four.
On the men’s side, both LSU and Tennessee have surprised the SEC this season by winning their respective divisions.
After Dane Bradshaw made his “I’m not scared of a frat kid at LSU” comment, Tiger students should have no problem finding a little hate for the Big Orange.
Other SEC West teams have legitimate claims, but there just isn’t a premier rivalry.
So what happens to a university that doesn’t have a rival of its own?
It makes one up with a bunch of Trojans from Southern California.
 
Contact Matt Vines at [email protected]