born2bAdawg going to try and give you my feelings on your question and try not to be too long . . .
This football thingy is a carry over for many, many years. Get North of that Mason Dixon line and there has always been a bit of a carry over about Southern Folks. I played that silly game in the service and some of my younger years.
Found out the best way to handle that crap was just as many of the Southern football teams have done. Just line up and say . . . "yes, we eat blackeyed peas and cornbread". Then kick their butts.
Story could be much longer, will stop there. Should be Alabama and LSU . . . . . again. For no other reason than to pp those I mentioned above off once again. Southern boy and damn proud of it.
Go Dawgs, here is hoping that we get Michigan State. Speaking for myself. Playing in Tampa would be great, hot bed for football players in the State of Florida. We have more than one that would love to show their wares in Tampa.