But the difference between that and most rivalries — because, come on: most rival programs that compete against each other every year do not “like” each other — for the last few years has been a seeming lack of respect to go with it.
That all started with the postponement and later move of the 2016 game between the two teams thanks to Hurricane Matthew. Florida officials tried their best to play the game in Gainesville as scheduled until that was no longer tenable, leading LSU officials to play hardball about the rescheduling of the game and essentially stealing a home game from the Gators that fall — with the recriminations along the way including allegations that one or more of the schools’ athletic directors were liars and that Florida was “scared” to play the game as scheduled.