florida... the hate for the arrogant gators runs deep. i think the record is something like 31-20 in favor of those jackwagons- which is to say they've outright won 10, were handed the game by zebras (the dumbest calls in this series, and yeah it's gone both ways but heavily favors the lizards), and Tennessee beat themselves the remainder. tennessee plays their worst game of teh season almost every season against the gators.... it's maybe the biggest mental block in all of sports- seriously.
bama- there is healthy respect for them, though, as what they've accomplished over the last 15 years is remarkable... though saban is excruciatingly cocky, it is fairly earned. there was a time when this game really mattered. the problem with the series is it's rarely played when both teams are good... it's always one climbing or holding while the other is fading... i'd love for it to matter again.
georgia- the most idiotic people in the game. well, maybe bested by ND people... but... they act like they've always mattered and nobody- like tennessee- who've dominated them ever has... they want to talk current, or they want to talk early eighties... they want to ignore any other time existed. then, the band wagon jumpers who want to talk shit but can't tell you the differences between playcalls on first or fourth down, much less the differences between unsportsmanlike and targeting... they just want to beat their chests and talk about how much better they are at everything- and this describes 80+% of people in Sanford stadium...
but honestly? i hold no ill will toward any of them... i've explained it like this in the past: If your team was dissolved tomorrow, would you lose interest in the game? and... i doubt it... which means we're all CFB fans first- and then teams and maybe conferences afterward. and that's why i watch them all (that i can), because it's the greatest sport of all time- pitting one collective against the other- a huge torrent of moving parts from coaching, preparing, practicing, strategizing, developing tactics to achieve strategy complimenting overall composition and for a season as well as a game- creating contingencies and hoping you got it right- marking and negotiating individual matchups (such as a WR against a CB) as individuals.... seeking and exploiting a mismatch that may result in a game final of 70-3, but doesn't speak as badly as the losing team as much as the winning team's ability to identify and exploit a mismatch/weakness of components... the constant evolving schemes and the revival of long forgotten schemes as new... the tradition and the allegiances are just the icing.
