Southeastern Culture: What Fuels Southern Rivalries

If it isn’t the Hatfields running up the gut on the McCoys then it is the McCoys going deep on the Hatfields.

The Southeastern Conference means so many things to so many people across the southeastern region of the United States and it is interwoven into the southeastern culture. The SEC is home to 14 proud universities, hosting 14 athletic departments that have produced some of the greatest collegiate programs in the history of sports.

The Alabama Crimson Tide produced a football dynasty under Coach Bear Bryant in the 1960’s, 70’s and even into the 80’s, that set the bar for greatness; a bar that Nick Saban certainly has reached today.

Kentucky means basketball in SEC land, and their Wildcats, under Coach Adolph Rupp, set the gold

standard in the 1940’s and into the 50’s that has carried over to today.

In baseball, how can you beat five World Series Championships in a decade, engineered by Skip Bertman and his LSU Tigers throughout the 1990’s?

These are just a sample of the programs that have emerged over the years as examples of consistent excellence. However, these noted programs can attribute much of their success to an ultra-competitive conference possessing many other talented teams. These other teams are constantly nipping at the heels of the elite, pushing them to achieve their absolute most.

This persistent,  deeply-rooted competitiveness, nearly from top to bottom in almost every sport, has been the fuel that has ignited a fire of fanaticism unmatched in the land. Simply put, the SEC has the most rabid and vocal fans who bleed the colors of their respective teams, at least in a figurative sense.

I believe that being situated in the South lends to a territorial mindset that has been passed down throughout history. Southerners are very proud of who they are and where they are from. Mix this self-identity with inter-regional competition and it begins to look like a replay of the Hatfields and McCoys being played out on the gridirons, hardwoods, and diamonds of the southland.

Let there be no mistake though—the south is football country first and foremost, with all other

sports trailing behind. Yes, March Madness gets the basketball juices flowing, and baseball is starting to attract more and more of a loyal following, but there is just something about football and the South that is purely natural.

Football seemingly flows through the veins of every southerner. Something about football’s territorial protection of real estate using brute force and tactical design engages the southerner like no one else in the nation.

We can’t help it. Simply put, it is in our DNA. Being willing to fight to protect what we believe to be ours is something southerners have shown since, well, forever.

Alabama versus Auburn—need I say more?

These are two uber-proud football programs staking claim to the same territory every November. If it isn’t the Hatfields running up the gut on the McCoys then it is the McCoys going deep on the Hatfields. One team stands tall with bragging rights in hand, while the other team is left to lick its wounds as it begins planning a new strategy for revenge in 12 months. The seething hate for one another never ends.

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This brings me to an interesting issue. What does the proud fan of a SEC school do when one of the other 13 are playing in an out-of-conference game? Does the pent-up dislike (or hatred) for any one of the other conference members override the southern pride to be realized in being a member of the SEC. Does this seething dislike rise to the point of actually rooting against that other SEC team? Or, does conference loyalty override these otherwise personal hatreds?

It has been my experience, personally, and in talking with other SEC fans, that it depends. I have found that there is a shifting continuum of sentiment toward any of the other thirteen members of the SEC. This continuum ranges from near pity to pure hatred.

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Teams that your team has beat up on recently usually fall on the “near pity” end of the spectrum, but the teams that your team usually gets whooped by are always relegated to the “pure hatred” end.

Therefore, it usually depends on where a particular team happens to be currently residing on the personal “pity/hate” spectrum as to whom one pull for or against. In essence, is there enough SEC pride within someone to override any ill feelings they may have for a particular team at that time?

Lets just say, these days an LSU fan would likely have an easier time pulling for Florida in an intersectional football game than say, Alabama. Of course, it is all very subjective with everyone having their own personal spectrum. As I said, it is very fluid with personal positioning on that spectrum at that given point in time.

Next: SEC Teams with the Most to Prove in 2016

It is all a part of the SEC culture, where heartfelt southern pride and emotions run very, very deep. Football is a mere extension of the historical battles that have played out across the South and it seems only fitting that the pistol and the shotgun are all a part of the lexicon to be heard across the gridirons on Saturdays in the Fall.