If you want to understand the pure, unadulterated chaos of Southern college football, don't look at the Iron Bowl. Don't look at the Cocktail Party. Honestly, just look at a shoe flying through the foggy Gainesville air in 2020. That one moment—a literal piece of footwear tossed by a Florida defender—basically sums up the Florida LSU football rivalry. It’s a series built on weirdness, spite, and a complete refusal to obey the laws of logic.
Most people think rivalries need to be a hundred years old to matter. Wrong. This one really found its teeth in the 90s. Before that, they were just two SEC teams that played sometimes. Then the conference split into divisions in 1992, and suddenly, these two were "permanent cross-division rivals." It was an arranged marriage that turned into a blood feud.
The weirdest games you've ever seen
You can’t talk about this matchup without mentioning the 2025 meeting. It was a mess. LSU walked away with a 20–10 win in Baton Rouge, but the story was Florida’s DJ Lagway tossing five interceptions. Five! You’d think a quarterback of that caliber would settle down after the second or third, but the LSU defense just lived in his head. Dashawn Spears even took one back 58 yards for a score. That win put LSU back in the driver's seat of the series, which is currently sitting at a razor-thin margin.
Speaking of margins, did you know Florida technically leads the all-time series 34–32–3? But there’s a massive asterisk there. LSU had to vacate three wins from the early 2010s due to NCAA violations. If you ask a Tiger fan in a bar in Baton Rouge, they’ll tell you those wins still happened. They saw them. They felt them. And honestly, they aren’t wrong. On the field, this thing is as close as it gets.
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1997 was another one for the books. Florida was ranked No. 1 and looked invincible. Then they went into Death Valley. LSU stunned them 28–21, snapping the Gators' 25-game SEC winning streak. It’s the kind of game that defines this rivalry—the moment one team looks like a lock for the national title, the other one reaches out of the swamp to drag them down.
Why the schedule change changes everything
Things are getting different now. With the SEC expanding to 16 teams and moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, the "permanent" part of this rivalry is actually going away. It’s kinda sad. For decades, you could circle this game on the calendar. Now, Florida’s annual "locked" opponents through 2029 are Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
LSU and Florida will still play, but it won't be every single year like it has been since 1971. We're moving to a "3-6 model" where they’ll rotate. The 2025 game was one of the last "guaranteed" annual meetings for a while. If you’re a fan who loves the tradition, this sucks. If you’re a coach who’s tired of having a heart attack every October, you might actually be relieved.
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The legendary "Shoe Game" and other nonsense
We have to go back to 2020. It’s the game everyone talks about. Florida was ranked No. 6 and heading toward the SEC Championship. A heavy fog had settled over the Swamp. LSU was having a miserable season. With the game tied late in the fourth quarter, Florida made a stop on third down. The Gators were going to get the ball back with a chance to win.
Then Marco Wilson threw the shoe.
He literally picked up an LSU player's cleat and chucked it downfield. Unsportsmanlike conduct. First down LSU. The Tigers kicked a game-winning field goal, and Florida’s playoff hopes evaporated in the mist. You can't make this stuff up.
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Then there was 2016. A hurricane literally moved the game. There was a massive dispute between the schools about when and where to play. Eventually, Florida had to travel to Baton Rouge instead of hosting. The Gators ended up winning 16–10 with a literal goal-line stand as time expired. It was pure, distilled tension.
Key stats and real-world impact
- Largest Victory: Florida won 58–3 back in 1993. Steve Spurrier didn't believe in taking his foot off the gas.
- The Streak: Florida won nine straight from 1988 to 1996. LSU recently had a five-game streak from 2019 to 2023.
- The Titles: Since 2003, these two have combined for five national championships. This isn't just a regional scrap; it’s usually for all the marbles.
What's next for the Gators and Tigers?
If you're looking to follow this rivalry into the new era of the SEC, you need to keep an eye on the 2027 schedule. That’s the next time these two are officially slated to meet in Gainesville. Since the annual requirement is dead, every meeting now carries more weight. You can't just "get them next year" anymore.
For Florida fans, the focus is on whether Billy Napier or his successor can stabilize the ship. For LSU, Brian Kelly is trying to keep the Tigers in the playoff conversation annually. The 2025 result showed that LSU still has the defensive edge, but the gap is small.
If you want to dive deeper into the history, check out the official SEC rivalry records or the deep-dive archives at Winsipedia.
To stay ahead of the curve on the Florida LSU football rivalry, you should start tracking the 2026 SEC rotating schedule releases. Since the "3-6" model begins then, knowing exactly when these teams meet next will be crucial for travel planning. If you're a season ticket holder, pay close attention to the 2027 home-away designations, as the conference is aiming for a balanced four-year rotation. You’ll also want to monitor the injury reports for DJ Lagway and the LSU secondary leading into the next non-annual matchup, as that's where the 2025 game was won and lost.