Alabama has Auburn, Mississippi has Mississippi State, Texas has Texas A&M, LSU has…
Unlike most Southeastern Conference teams, LSU has no in-state rivals in any of the Five conferences. That’s not to say the Tigers aren’t a loved team within the conference; there is no such thing. So if it’s not geography, what makes a rivalry with LSU?
With Alabama, the answer is quite simple: Nick Saban.
Saban was the head coach of the LSU football team from 2000 to 2004, winning the national championship with the Tigers in 2003. After a short break from college sports to lead the NFL’s Miami Dolphins from 2005 to 2006, Saban moved to Tuscaloosa, where he coached the Crimson Tide for 16 years. At Alabama, Saban won a record six national titles.
LSU has lost eight straight games in the series since 2011, so it’s fair to say Alabama has been a roadblock between the Tigers and their ambitions.
The Alabama-LSU rivalry is nicknamed the “First Saturday in November” or the “Saban Bowl.” Alabama leads 13–5 in the “Saban Bowl” era.
In its 6–2 conference run in 2023, Alabama was the one and Ole Miss was the two. LSU fans are not shy when it comes to their antipathy with Mississippi, commonly spelling the ‘Miss’ with a ‘P’ rather than an ‘M.’
Many will say Arkansas is LSU’s biggest rival. The two teams first played each other in 1901, and since 1996, the winner of the annual matchup goes home with a Golden Boot. Since the start of this era, LSU has won 19 games, while the Razorbacks have only gone home with the nearly 200-pound, $10,000 trophy nine times. In 2023, the Tigers came off with a tight 34-31 win at Tiger Stadium.
In the final SEC West college football standings, LSU ended the 2023 season in third place, while Arkansas sat in last. In the Learfield Directors’ Cup, a ranking of the nation’s best athletic programs, the SEC had seven institutions in the top 25, not including Texas or Oklahoma. Tennessee led the SEC teams in third place, and LSU stood 10 places behind in 13th, with rivals Alabama in ninth and Arkansas in 18th.
Texas football will not face LSU this season, but the Tigers and the Longhorns will meet in different sports. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey’s women’s basketball team will play in Austin, while Texas men’s basketball will take a road trip to Baton Rouge. Basketball dates are yet to be determined.
Back-to-back national champion Texas volleyball will also be hitting the road to face the Tigers in its second conference game of the season. Other sports are yet to release their schedules, but one thing is certain: Texas fans will be seeing a lot of purple and gold in the years to come.
