When pondering the SEC’s most intense football rivalries, there are several match-ups that immediately come to mind.

Auburn and Alabama have the Iron Bowl, Ole Miss and Mississippi State have the Egg Bowl, Georgia and Auburn have the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, and the list goes on.

But the inter-divisional rivalry between Florida and LSU has developed into a quality contest that often gets overlooked when discussing the SEC’s best.

Perhaps it is because the two are not rivals in the traditional sense.

There is no geographical connection to breed tension among the fan bases, and though each is a founding member of the conference, there is not a deep-rooted reason from years ago for the schools to dislike each other.

Neither is considered the other school’s top rival. The Gators have an in-state rivalry with Florida State and neighboring Georgia, while LSU battles Arkansas for the Golden Boot and in recent years has participated in a heated “Saban Bowl” with Alabama.

Or perhaps the lack of recognition of the rivalry stems from one of the participating coaches actively campaigning for the yearly meeting to come to an end in the name of fairness of conference scheduling.

“There are a number of schools in our conference that have a burden of playing the better schools in the other division that’s not shared by the conference,” Miles said at the 2013 conference meetings in Destin, Fla.

Former Florida coach Will Muschamp opposed Miles’ position, claiming that the rivalry was “good for the league.”

The two schools were assigned as permanent East-West opponents when the league expanded to 12 teams in 1992, and whether Miles believes it to be fair or not, they will continue to play each season for the foreseeable future.

From 1992 until now, few conference series have produced as many championship-relevant games. (Florida or LSU have appeared in 15 of the 23 SEC Championship Games.)

In total, the teams have met 61 times since 1937, with Florida holding a 31-27-3 series lead.

The series is tied 9-9 in the last 18 meetings, with the winner of the game going on to win a national championship four times in that period.

Some classic moments in the series include:

  • A comeback win by LSU when Miles utilized his patented fake field goal pass to convert a fourth down on the game-winning touchdown drive in 2010.
  • In 2006, Florida freshman QB Tim Tebow contributed to a Gators win with his first career touchdown pass, revealing the “jump pass” for the first time. The Gators went on to win the BCS National Championship.
  • In 2007, the Tigers were successful on five fourth-down conversions on their way to a 28-24 win. LSU went on to win the BCS National Championship.
  • Just last season, LSU came away with a 30-27 win on a 50-yard field goal in the game’s final seconds shortly after a Jeff Driskel pass was intercepted as Florida was driving to win the game in the final minute.

The two conference heavyweights likely will continue to write exciting new chapters in the years to come.

What’s your favorite Florida/LSU moment?