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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/pinoygator on 2025-08-22 18:39:23+00:00.
Obviously there’s no perfectly objective way to do this but I set out to use fan-surveyed rivalry scores (knowrivalry.com) and all-time head-to-head records (winsipedia) to choose each team’s top three in-conference rivals.
Rivalry Scores
Since we’re only looking at SEC rivals, I scaled reported scores so each team’s total rivalry points across SEC teams added to 100. I also prioritized strong, symmetrical rivalry scores by ranking the harmonic mean of each pair.
Example: South Carolina assigns all its SEC rivalry points to Georgia, which only gives 5 points in return. Rather than using its total or straight average resulting in UGA/USC rating the 6th strongest rivalry, that rivalry barely cracks the top 20.
Head-to-Head Records
Where knowrivalry.com’s data fails to assign clear rivals, I turn to the all-time matchup. A longer, more competitive record is prioritized by ranking the harmonic mean of each team’s wins with ties credited as 0.5 wins each.
Example: Despite being the 9th most played series, the lopsided nature of the Alabama-Miss State series ranked it 26th in terms of historical competitiveness.
Results Summary
In addition to the resulting rivalry assignments, I listed the next two teams that might have qualified as rivals but for the three-team limit.
| Team | Rival | Rival | Rival | Alt | Alt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bama | Auburn | Tenn | LSU | Miss St | Georgia |
| Arky | Mizzou | A&M | Texas | LSU | Ole Miss |
| Auburn | Bama | Georgia | Miss St | LSU | Florida |
| Florida | Georgia | LSU | USC | Tenn | UK |
| Georgia | Florida | Auburn | USC | Tenn | Bama |
| UK | Tenn | Vandy | Miss St | Florida | Ole Miss |
| LSU | Bama | Ole Miss | Florida | A&M | Arky |
| Miss St | Ole Miss | Auburn | UK | Bama | LSU |
| Mizzou | Arky | OU | Ole Miss | Texas | A&M |
| OU | Texas | Mizzou | A&M | Arky | Bama |
| Ole Miss | Miss St | LSU | Mizzou | Arky | Vandy |
| USC | Georgia | Florida | Vandy | UK | Tenn |
| Tenn | Bama | Vandy | UK | Florida | Georgia |
| Texas | OU | A&M | Arky | Mizzou | LSU |
| A&M | Texas | Arky | OU | LSU | Miss St |
| Vandy | Tenn | UK | USC | Ole Miss | Bama |
Ratings by Tennessee and LSU fans were frequently the driver of which rivalries survived. Thanks to feedback on my original post on the Florida sub, I modified to ensure each team kept its top rivalry preference. Kentucky was screwed in my original analysis but this change gave it Tennessee at the expense of the Florida-Tennessee rivalry.
Scores by Team
| Bama vs | Auburn | Tenn | LSU | Miss St | Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 58 | 34 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| History Score | 43 | 51 | 39 | 31 | 34 |
| Arky vs | Mizzou | A&M | Texas | LSU | Ole Miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 14 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
| History Score | 6 | 40 | 33 | 32 | 35 |
| Auburn vs | Bama | Georgia | Miss St | LSU | Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 58 | 30 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| History Score | 43 | 64 | 43 | 28 | 42 |
| Florida vs | Georgia | LSU | USC | Tenn | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 59 | 19 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| History Score | 50 | 36 | 17 | 26 | 30 |
| Georgia vs | Florida | Auburn | USC | Tenn | Bama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 59 | 30 | 10 | 11 | 0 |
| History Score | 50 | 64 | 29 | 27 | 34 |
| UK vs | Tenn | Vandy | Miss St | Florida | Ole Miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| History Score | 45 | 48 | 25 | 30 | 25 |
| LSU vs | Bama | Ole Miss | Florida | A&M | Arky |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 24 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| History Score | 39 | 54 | 36 | 30 | 32 |
| Miss St vs | Ole Miss | Auburn | UK | LSU | Bama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| History Score | 59 | 43 | 25 | 52 | 31 |
| Mizzou vs | Arky | OU | Ole Miss | Texas | A&M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| History Score | 6 | 39 | 2 | 13 | 8 |
| OU vs | Texas | Mizzou | A&M | Arky | Bama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| History Score | 59 | 39 | 15 | 6 | 3 |
| Ole Miss vs | Miss St | LSU | Mizzou | Arky | Vandy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 63 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| History Score | 59 | 54 | 2 | 35 | 48 |
| USC vs | Georgia | Florida | Vandy | UK | Tenn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| History Score | 29 | 17 | 7 | 17 | 17 |
| Tenn vs | Bama | Vandy | UK | Florida | Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 34 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 11 |
| History Score | 51 | 50 | 45 | 26 | 27 |
| Texas vs | OU | A&M | Arky | Mizzou | LSU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 83 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| History Score | 59 | 53 | 33 | 13 | 9 |
| A&M vs | Texas | Arky | OU | LSU | Miss St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 34 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| History Score | 53 | 40 | 15 | 30 | 9 |
| Vandy vs | Tenn | UK | USC | Ole Miss | Bama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivalry Score | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| History Score | 50 | 48 | 7 | 48 | 32 |
Scoring Example
Alabama-Auburn rivalry score of 58 is the harmonic mean of Bama’s 55 post-scaling points assigned to Auburn and Auburn’s 61 points assigned to Bama.
Alabama-Auburn history score of 43 is the harmonic mean of Alabama’s 51.5 wins and Auburn’s 37.5 wins in the series.
Final Thoughts
While it seems like practically everyone considers LSU and Tennessee their rival, Mizzou was the hardest to pair up by far. Some off these newer potential rivalries make geographic sense (USC-Vandy), Mizzou-Ole Miss was me grasping straws.
This is worth less than the ink it’s printed with but would love to know if SEC fans think there’s a more optimal set of rivalries.