The Wall Street Journal thinks it has come up with a way to determine not the biggest or the best but the dirtiest rivalries in college football, at least over the past five years.
They recently tallied “unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, late hits and other roughness calls counted (including offsetting ones)” in match ups between traditional rivals… and guess what? The Deep South’s oldest rivalry was piling on top.
Since 2006, Auburn vs. Georgia has averaged 5.4 behavior-related penalties per game. And Georgia—not Auburn and mean old Nick Fairley—is the biggest, dirtiest offender. Yes, 59% of the time, those calls go against the Bulldogs.
So much for all that friendly brother-against-brother-in-the-backyard talk.
No other SEC schools made the WSJ’s list. You can read the rest of the story here.
h/t Adam Epling.
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I’ve always though AU/BAMA was alot more civil on the field. AU/UGA has always been more civil in the stands.
That’s a good way to put it, Wess. That’s an interesting way to look at things, though.
The way the refs have been calling offensive facemasks, we better be careful in the LSU game.
AU v. UGA may be friendlier in the stands than the Iron Bowl, but its getting much worse. I really think the vitriol of late has emerged since the 2007 season – the first time Georgia began using their uniform change gimmicks and also the year that Richt sent his entire team to the field to celebrate their first touchdown over Florida – the only victory over the Gators they have in my recent memory.
Since that moment in Jax, Georgia has slid down the on-field class meter considerably, and it’s fans have slowly but surely followed suit. I’ve had more bad encounters with UGA fans than Alabama, Florida, or LSU fans. I personally don’t know of any other fanbase that has a cheer similar to “There’s nothin finer in the world than a drunk obnoxious Georgia fan!”
I’ll be interested to see how bad the game this year is. I wonder if UGA players will try to exact revenge for Nick Fairley last year, and if Auburn players will react accordingly. I would love to go to Athens this year and watch the game, but the way that fanbase has degenerated, I’d rather pass. It’s a lovely campus and good tailgating, but getting my tires slashed and having idiots bark in my face does not sound enticing, even with a victory.
Its not friendly in the stands either, especially in Athens. I am female, and I have had a male actually grab my hands and rip my shaker away from me. I think they drink more than LSU fans which causes a lot of it. They are thugs on and off the field and obviously St. Mark does nothing about it.
I’d rather go to UAT any day, never had a problem there. Its UAT’s armchair fans that are their problem, the people in the stands usually act fine in my experience.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … I am so thankful that my school spirit doesn’t require me to bark like a dog.
the first, last and only time i went to UGa for a game, my friend and i (we are both women) sat in the student section with some UGa friends. We had ‘grown’ men hock loogies on our heads and pour whiskey all over us…most of this happened before the game had even started. how’s that for some class?