Question: Who should be our 3rd Permanent Rival?

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Due to proximity and history I would have to say Miss. St.

Let's face LSU is sort of manufactured.

 

[oskie]

Seems to me that the "BAMA/LSU as a rivalry" notion only came about when Coach Saban became the common denominator.
.

 

[Power Eye]

Does it really matter if it's LSU or Miss St? We will either play LSU every year or every other year. I don't think it will be that impactful. If the three games were Auburn, Tennessee and Miss St, then all we would hear from the rest of the conference is how we get to avoid Georgia, Texas and LSU as permanent games. The conference is so interchangeable at this point that I don't think it really matters. It will be a gauntlet regardless.

 

[AngeloToad]

Georgia.

 

[arthurdawg]

I can't see letting ourselves get tagged with three upper level conference games as our recurring games when we will have to play Texas or Georgia one every year too. Pretty brutal.

Auburn may yet figure out that they could be pretty good if they'd just play football and not obsess about Big Brother.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Georgia.

they are mentioned in the fight song. No matter how many people try to tell you the "teach the bulldogs to behave" is not miss state, it is uga.

 

[Bazza]

Vandy?

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Vandy?

When the SEC expanded to 12, everyone had 2 permanent rivals and for some reason Vandy was one of ours.

 

[Bama9001]

According to my AI search, MSU, Auburn, and Ole Miss are the three closest to Tuscaloosa. The conference needs to have some criteria other than just trying to stick it to Alabama. Proximity, total number of games played against each other, etc... Something other than just politics.

We could group the teams according to their recruiting budgets, Top three play each other, then the next three, etc..

It's the scheduling anomalies in the past that have me paranoid about this process. Not long ago didn't every team in the conference get the week off before playing Bama?

 

[colbysullivan]

Not sure who it should be, but it WILL be LSU.

 

[MikeInBama]

According to my AI search, MSU, Auburn, and Ole Miss are the three closest to Tuscaloosa. The conference needs to have some criteria other than just trying to stick it to Alabama. Proximity, total number of games played against each other, etc... Something other than just politics.

We could group the teams according to their recruiting budgets, Top three play each other, then the next three, etc..

It's the scheduling anomalies in the past that have me paranoid about this process. Not long ago didn't every team in the conference get the week off before playing Bama?

Close but it was in 2010:
Arky had a bye after our game
These teams had 2+ weeks to prepare for us:
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Tennessee

Only Florida played games before and after our game. Makes that 10-3 impressive.

 

[Cruloc]

Meh, just make it Texas, Georgia and LSU....call it a day and tell Bama good luck.

Just like those years when everyone had a bye week before us.

But does it even matter since we'll be playing everyone every 2 years now anyway.

I can see the year we get road games at Texas, at Florida, at LSU and at Tennessee.

Just taking preseason rankings this year:
SEC - 10 ranked teams out of 16
Big Ten - 6 ranked teams out of 18

Last year, we lose at Vandy.....Texas almost lost at Vandy. LSU should have lost at South Carolina. Georgia lost at Ole Miss. SEC road games are a nightmare.

You think Penn State or Ohio State is worried about Rutgers or Purdue right now. Our bottom three are probably Auburn, Arkansas and Miss. State right now, with Kentucky right there with them.

Big 10....Northwestern, Maryland, and Purdue.

Interesting stat last year......the only team in the SEC without a win over a AP ranked team was Mississippi State. They were 0-5. If you'll remember, Kentucky beat Ole Miss at Ole Miss. Auburn beat Texas A&M. Vandy and Oklahoma beat the crap shows we put on the field.

The Big 10 had 10 teams winless vs AP ranked teams. Notably....Indiana, they were 0-2. Also of note, Rutgers, 0-1....they played 1 ranked team all year.

The two conferences are not equal.

 

[Elefantman]

Arkansas, that way I don't have to drive far to see the Tide.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

For proximity and historical context, it should be Miss. St.

It will probably be LSU because folks outside this state think they are our rival.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

For proximity and historical context, it should be Miss. St.

It will probably be LSU because folks outside this state think they are our rival.

historical context? I don't remember ever giving any thoughts on playing them. They were historically terrible.

 

[JayBama_in_PCOLA]

Money talks now. You think the SEC is going to let that game go? Not a chance.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Can't we just add Sewanee back?

 

[tusks_n_raider]

It’s LSU

Is is recent? Yes

Is it because of CNS? Yes

Those games from ‘08 to ‘24 have been some of the most intense and hyped games of every season.

I believe LSU has only not been ranked in the Top 15 about 3-4 times so it’s almost always a Marquee matchup.

Miss St is a big nothing burger.

It’s LSU

 

[CrimsonNagus]

historical context? I don't remember ever giving any thoughts on playing them. They were historically terrible.

Miss St. was the longest running series for the Tide until it ended last season. That's the historical context. We never cared about LSU either until Saban turned them around. The joke was always that Tiger Stadium was just another home game for Bama.

Honestly, if I could pick any SEC team, I'd go with OU or Texas. The 3 of us are all in the top 6 wins of all time. It would be fun to start a yearly rivalry with one of them. I'd lean towards OU because they wear crimson, and we are 2 of the most storied programs in the sport.

 

[CrimSonami]

Pretty sure it'll be UGA but geography would prevail in an "old school" fashion with the Barn and the 2 Mississippi schools. That would drop U-Cheat, and that'd take some getting used to, but I'd eventually get over it. Ya know, 'cuz they low-down, they some snitches, and I HATE ORANGE!!!