Where Florida vs. Georgia ranks among the SEC’s best rivalries

One of the unique things about Florida is the sheer number of rivals the Gators have. The Gators have FSU, Georgia, and Tennessee, but then they also have teams like LSU and Miami, who are known to make things chippy. Kentucky is a pain in basketball, and that is before we even pretend to acknowledge UCF.

It’s with that in mind that we are going to compare Florida’s rivarlies specifically to the SEC and see how they stack up with some other notable rivarly games around the SEC. 

For the purpose of this list, these games are only between SEC opponents. This list is also only ranking games with a formal name to them, so Florida’s games against Tennessee and LSU won’t be included on the list.

Florida’s rivalries ranked within the SEC

• No. 14: Missouri vs. South Carolina — Battle of Columbia/Mayor’s Cup

A lot of this rivalry game being placed in dead last on the list has to do with the fact that Missouri as a whole might be the least relevant SEC program across the board. They are a geographic mismatch for everyone and often are a gatekeeper at best. Throw in that this trophy feels completely made up, and we’re not convinced even these two teams care.

• No. 13: Arkansas vs. Missouri — Battle Line Rivalry

It’s really hard to conjure up any emotion towards this rivalry game for a ton of the reasons mentioned. At least these two teams have a reason to dislike each other, unlike the South Carolina game.

• No. 12: Kentucky vs. Tennessee — Beer Barrel rivalry

Cool name for the rivalry, but given Kentucky’s perpetual status as a doormat in the SEC for football, this has seldom been must-see TV.

• No. 11: Missouri vs. Oklahoma — Tiger–Sooner Peace Pipe

Who knew Missouri had so many rival names, and we’re sure that when both teams used to be in the Big 12, this game probably carried more weight. But after Missouri came over to the SEC, these two teams didn’t play each other for 14 years. This past year, Oklahoma won 17-6.

• No. 10: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M — Southwest Classic

It doesn’t help that Texas A&M has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, though these have been some fairly close games over the years. What hurts this game is that it’s played in Jerry World, AKA AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which just never feels like a college football venue.

• No. 9: LSU vs. Ole Miss — Magnolia Bowl

This year’s game is set to be must-see TV, given the backdrop of Lane Kiffin and the last three years, these have been some of the more exciting games in the country, but these teams have struggled to be good at the same time, and thus, this isn’t higher on the list.

• No. 8: Alabama vs. Tennessee — Third Saturday in October

Now we are starting to get to some tough decisions. What hurts this rivalry is that Alabama won every game from 2007 to 2021, and most of those games weren’t even close. Throw in that both teams have bigger rivals, they claim, and this one slides in at mid-pack.

• No. 7: Auburn vs. LSU — Tiger Bowl

There was a stretch when these were among the wildest games on the schedule and produced some wild finishes. What hurts this game in the rankings is that neither claimed the other as one of their three “permanent opponents” with the revamped nine-game SEC schedule.

• No. 6: Auburn vs. Georgia — Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry

The only thing that hurts this game is that neither claims the other as their main rival, though that doesn’t take away from the intensity of this annual matchup.

• No. 5: Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State — Egg Bowl

We are down to our top five, and the only thing that prevents the Egg Bowl from being higher is that the annual stakes usually aren’t that big. But this always had a fun spot on Thanksgiving, which has recently been ruined by the NFL, and was an annual reminder of just how much these two teams really don’t like each other.

• No. 4: Florida vs. Georgia — World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

So if this were a list strictly through the lens of Florida and Georgia fans, this game would obviously be number one. If we zoom out a bit in the context of college football as a whole, Florida’s downfall over the past decade, combined with the fact that most recent games have been that close, prevents this from being number one. Also changing the official name of this rivalry to whatever it is now loses points.

• No. 3: Oklahoma vs. Texas — Red River Rivalry

One of the final true neutral site games, this gets the nod ahead of Florida vs. Georgia because it has been more back-and-forth, has had higher stakes in recent years, and has had the better games from start to finish. 

• No. 2: Texas vs. Texas A&M — Lone Star Showdown

In terms of recent backstory and the implications for college sports as a whole, the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry is hard to top. Not all of their games have been classics, but there is a legit bitterness between these two schools that we’re not sure anyone else in the SEC can top.

• No. 1: Alabama vs. Auburn — Iron Bowl

From a national perspective, it’s hard to top the Iron Bowl. Even in the years where Auburn isn’t great, they still found a way to make this game a classic. Alabama may have won seven of the last eight, but almost every year this game has gone down to the wire.

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