By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

What makes a good rivalry?

Well, for one, you need two teams whose fan bases have a deep seeded hatred for one another. It certainly helps if the players fall in line with that mentality, but with the All-Star games and summer camps high school kids attend nowadays, they don’t seem to have the same animosity towards each other they used to. A lot rides on the fans to keep the intensity of the rivalry going.

Next, you need teams that typically have something to play for. There are hundreds of rivalries, on all levels of sports throughout the country, but nobody really cares about a game where the two teams are constantly awful.

People are interested in watching games where both teams have something on the line, other than pride and bragging rights.

Lastly, in most great rivalries, there is one memorable game that defines the series. That one moment that is played over and over again; making one fan base feel complete and unadulterated jubilation, while the other fan base feels as though they just ate a dozen Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Tacos Supremes and ran a half marathon.

Yes, there are other factors that go into a great rivalry (a cool nickname always helps), but when you at least have the three I just mentioned, you’re normally guaranteed a popular rivalry.

So, having said all that, my question is: “Why is the Georgia/Florida game not a bigger deal, on a national level?”

For starters, the game checks off all three of the major requirements.

1. Hatred among the fan base? Ummm, I feel like I can safely say this isn’t much of an issue when it comes to this game.
2. Something to play for? The series has been a little hit and miss when it comes to both teams consistently being ranked, but there always seems to be something on the line for at least one team, more times than not. Obviously for Georgia, there’s a lot on the line this year.
3. That defining moment? There is a plethora to choose from, but my favorites are the back to back games in ’07/’08. Georgia’s entire team celebrating in the end zone in ’07, followed the next year by Urban Meyer calling two timeouts with less than a minute left, during a 49-10 victory over Georgia. You don’t get much better than that.

Hell, even the nickname for the game is incredible- “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” They’re literally combining two of mankind’s three favorite things; alcohol and football.

The only way it could be any better is if they included all three things and renamed it the “World’s Largest Outdoor Netflix and Chill Cocktail Football Party”.

Yet, as I sit here and write this I can think of 7 rivalry games off the top of my head that receive more recognition that the GA/FL game. Not to say those other games aren’t deserving, but it feels as though this particular rivalry is undervalued on a national scale.

I wish I had the answer for why this matchup isn’t as big of a deal to the rest of the country as it should be- and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really care all that much for either program. All it takes is for one game, or one instance, to get everyone else to take notice. Maybe for this rivalry, this will be the year.