I just need to get this off my chest. Probably shouldn't have been reading the Auburn message boards the past week.
There's been a lot said by Auburn fans and their sports writers/bloggers over the past week about how our series with them isn't a rivalry. They claim that the Arkansas fans view them as a huge rival, maybe our BIGGEST rival, and they don't feel the same way about us. Some claim to "not even think about Arkansas" some years.
First of all, I don't think most of us consider them our biggest rival, or even really one of our top 5 most hated teams traditionally. The only reason there's any extra build-up to the Auburn games lately is because of Malzahn. Has nothing to do with the fact we are jealous of Auburn or that we have some deep-rooted longing to beat them like we do for LSU, Texas, etc. It really has nothing to with Auburn as a program at all. Sure, we want to beat them... And we are passionate about it. But that's how we feel about most every team we play. Especially teams who have had recent success and are in our division.
Bielema created some drama between him and Malzahn, and that probably fueled lot of this perceived rivalry. I understand that. Malzahn being there makes it more fun to win for sure, but I don't consider that program a huge rival because of it. A rivalry involves much more than just a dislike for a coach.
All that being said, maybe Auburn fans should take our game a tad more seriously from now on, seeing as how we have a 6-4 record against them over the past 10 years. Rival or not, it's pretty impressive a team that has been atop so many polls in both recruiting and the top 25 can't even maintain a winning record against the "lowly hogs" over a decade (which included a few of the worst years in our program's history).
There's been a lot said by Auburn fans and their sports writers/bloggers over the past week about how our series with them isn't a rivalry. They claim that the Arkansas fans view them as a huge rival, maybe our BIGGEST rival, and they don't feel the same way about us. Some claim to "not even think about Arkansas" some years.
First of all, I don't think most of us consider them our biggest rival, or even really one of our top 5 most hated teams traditionally. The only reason there's any extra build-up to the Auburn games lately is because of Malzahn. Has nothing to do with the fact we are jealous of Auburn or that we have some deep-rooted longing to beat them like we do for LSU, Texas, etc. It really has nothing to with Auburn as a program at all. Sure, we want to beat them... And we are passionate about it. But that's how we feel about most every team we play. Especially teams who have had recent success and are in our division.
Bielema created some drama between him and Malzahn, and that probably fueled lot of this perceived rivalry. I understand that. Malzahn being there makes it more fun to win for sure, but I don't consider that program a huge rival because of it. A rivalry involves much more than just a dislike for a coach.
All that being said, maybe Auburn fans should take our game a tad more seriously from now on, seeing as how we have a 6-4 record against them over the past 10 years. Rival or not, it's pretty impressive a team that has been atop so many polls in both recruiting and the top 25 can't even maintain a winning record against the "lowly hogs" over a decade (which included a few of the worst years in our program's history).
