Temperatures during this Saturday’s game between Arkansas and No. 20 LSU may dip below freezing, but when it comes to competitiveness no SEC trophy game series has been hotter. In each of the last nine games of this rivalry, an average of 6.2 points has been all that separates the teams. Eight times the difference has been eight points or less. It appears the only other major college trophy series with more consistently exciting finishes has been Duke-North Carolina, decided by an average of five points* in the same span.
In the last three years, LSU’s and Arkansas’ fortunes have fallen — the Tigers’ a little, Hogs’ a lot — but the two sides haven’t let their fans down when facing each other. In 2012, nobody thought the burning Hogmobile soon-to-be-fired coach John L. Smith drove into Razorback Reynolds Stadium could pull away with a win against No. 8 LSU, but those struggling Hogs somehow out-gained LSU 462-306 in total yardage and in the closing seconds were an 18-yard touchdown pass away from forcing overtime.
Likewise, last year’s game also came down to the last couple minutes, when LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings found receiver Travin Dural on a 49-yard TD bomb that detonated Arkansas’ hopes of picking up a first SEC win since 2012.
Arkansas (4-5, 0-5) still seeks that first landmark victory. Many insiders predict the Razorbacks get it Saturday night at home. Coming off a strong showing against No. 1 Mississippi State and a bye week, Arkansas is favored by 2, according to the latest NCAAF game lines. This likely marks the first time a college football team without a conference win is favored over a Top 25 opponent this late in the season.**
Louisiana State, the would-be victim, looks to rebound from a bruising home loss to Alabama. Jennings was banged up in in the 20-13 affair and projects to have limited mobility against an Arkansas defense among the nation’s best in creating havoc in its opponent’s backfield. “Arkansas couldn’t catch them at a better time,”says Houston Nutt, former Razorback head coach. “You have a team who fought their guts out against Alabama … and now they have got to come to Fayetteville against a very hungry Arkansas team.”
“You know [LSU] is used to fighting for championships as well,” he adds, noting the difficulty of physically recovering from last week’s slugfest and overcoming a natural emotional letdown after losing an SEC West title shot. “They’re probably out of it.” Nutt predicts Arkansas will not only beat LSU, but ultimately go to a bowl game after winning at least one of its following two games against Ole Miss and Missouri.
Any bowl is great news for an Arkansas program starving for success. The same cannot be said of LSU, which was so close to still being in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. Now, whether it finishes the season with seven or nine wins, the Tigers are likely returning to the Outback Bowl or to the Taxslayer, Belk, Liberty, Texas or Music City bowls, writes The Advocate’s Scott Rabalais. Not exactly music to Tiger fans’ ears.
Given what’s not at stake, it’s time Les Miles and the LSU staff maximize the develop of their record 17 true freshmen these next three games, Rabalais says. Split quarterbacking duties between the struggling Jennings and frosh Brandon Harris. Crank up the carry-o-meter for freshmen tailbacks Leonard Fournette and Darrel Williams. And “maximize the D-line rotations for the younger players like Sione Teuhema, Frank Herron, Greg Gilmore and Maquedius Bain. In the secondary, get more work for youngsters like Ed Paris and Jamal Adams and Russell Gage.”
“This season was never going to be about championships,” Rabalais adds. “It was always going to be a bridge to what the Tigers hope will be a brighter future.”
Paradoxically, this kind of talk, as well as the betting lines, may actually serve as a greater incentive to LSU players than whatever on-field consequences an Arkansas win could mean for them. Yes, of course, they want to keep the nearly 200-pound Golden Boot on campus for the fourth straight season. And what erstwhile SEC champion wouldn’t prefer a return trip to sunny Tampa to the prospect of a 56th AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis?
But despite what players and coaches say in public, simple pride and retaliation for a perceived slight can sometimes be the powerful motivation of all. In public, it’s foolish for coaches to admit they pay attention to Vegas and all the media chatter. But in the privacy of their locker room, it’s smart to use any perceived disrespect as extra fuel for competitive engines that may be running on low.
LSU won’t become Arkansas’ first SEC victim of the Bret Bielema era without a nasty fight. Expect another classic finish in the conference’s most heart-stopping rivalry.
Evin’s Scale of SEC Trophy Game One-Sidededness
Before 2014*, there were five trophies circulating in and among the sweaty, intraconference climes of SEC football country. Each one represents a decades-old rivalry, with LSU-Arkansas the baby of the bunch. What their Golden Boot lacks in tradition, though, has more than been made up for in sheer entertainment value. The below scale, based on final score differences, ranks the SEC trophy rivalries on a scale from most consistently entertaining (1) to most likely to cause a re-reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter for lack of anything better to do (5). Winners are in parentheses.
1. LSU-Arkansas (Golden Boot)
| Year | Point Differential |
| 2013 | 4 (LSU) |
| 2012 | 7 (LSU) |
| 2011 | 24 (LSU) |
| 2010 | 8 (UA) |
| 2009 | 3 (LSU) |
| 2008 | 1 (UA) |
| 2007 | 2 (UA) |
| 2006 | 5 (LSU) |
| 2005 | 2 (LSU) |
Total Point Differential: 56
Per-Game Average: 6.2
2. LSU/Ole Miss (Magnolia Bowl)
| Year | Point Differential |
| 2014 | 3 (LSU) |
| 2013 | 3 (Ole Miss) |
| 2012 | 6 (LSU) |
| 2011 | 49 (LSU) |
| 2010 | 7 (LSU) |
| 2009 | 2 (Ole Miss) |
| 2008 | 17 (Ole Miss) |
| 2007 | 17 (LSU) |
| 2006 | 3 (LSU) |
Total Point Differential: 90
Per-Game Average: 10
3. Florida/Georgia (Okefenokee Oar)
| Year | Point Differential |
| 2014 | 18 (UF) |
| 2013 | 3 (UG) |
| 2012 | 8 (UG) |
| 2011 | 4 (UG) |
| 2010 | 3 (UF) |
| 2009 | 24 (UF) |
| 2008 | 39 (UF) |
| 2007 | 12 (UG) |
| 2006 | 7 (UF) |
Total Point Differential: 118
Per-Game Average: 13.1
4. Ole Miss/Mississippi State (Golden Egg)
| Year | Point Differential |
| 2013 | 7 (MSU) |
| 2012 | 17 (Ole Miss) |
| 2011 | 28 (MSU) |
| 2010 | 8 (MSU) |
| 2009 | 14 (MSU) |
| 2008 | 45 (Ole Miss) |
| 2007 | 3 (MSU) |
| 2006 | 3 (Ole Miss) |
| 2005 | 16 (MSU) |
Total Point Differential: 138
Per-Game Average: 15.3
5. Alabama/Auburn** (Foy-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy)
| Year | Point Differential |
| 2013 | 6 (AU) |
| 2012 | 49 (UA) |
| 2011 | 28 (UA) |
| 2010 | 1 (AU) |
| 2009 | 5 (UA) |
| 2008 | 36 (UA) |
| 2007 | 7 (AU) |
| 2006 | 7 (AU) |
| 2005 | 10 (AU) |
Total Point Differential: 149
Per-Game Average: 16.6
*The new Texas A&M-South Carolina and Missouri-South Carolina series involve trophies, too. Which is nice. But for membership in this particular club, you need to have been clashin’ man horns for at least nine years running.
** Yes, the 2010 and 2013 Iron Bowls were awesomely entertaining. But Crimson Tide routs in 2008, 2011 and 2012 have made the series’ games on the whole the least consistently compelling.
