Auburn and LSU have played plenty of times, but they’ve had a two year break so you may have forgotten the weird things that make up LSU and the many connections they have with Auburn. Let’s remember.

🐯LSU Things

🌽 1. They Smell Like Corn Dogs: LSU fans have spent decades insisting they don’t smell like carnival food. Which is exactly what someone who smells like a corn dog would say.

🎖️ 2. Their First President Was General Sherman: William Tecumseh Sherman was LSU’s first superintendent before becoming the Union general famous for burning his way through Georgia. LSU was apparently a little too much even for him.

🔥 3. Their School Burned Down: LSU originally opened in Pineville, Louisiana, in 1860. Its original building burned down in 1869, and the school eventually settled in Baton Rouge. Even their campus needed a fresh start.

🐘 4. Their Governor Threatened to Dip Elephants: Huey Long reportedly threatened to enforce Louisiana’s flea-dipping law on circus elephants because their parade might compete with an LSU football game. LSU football has apparently always required government intervention.

📰 5. He Also Expelled Newspaper Staffers: In 1934, seven LSU student newspaper staff members were expelled after publishing something Huey Long didn’t like. LSU was apparently canceling the media long before Twitter existed.

🦅Auburn Connections

🤪 1. The Crazy Games. Auburn–LSU has given us the Earthquake Game (1988), the Interception Game (1994), the Barn Burner (1996), and the Cigar Game (1999). Earthquakes, six interceptions, a burning building, and cigars. Just a normal SEC rivalry.

🏟️ 2. The Coaching Connections. Will Muschamp was LSU’s defensive coordinator under Nick Saban before holding the same position at Auburn. Kevin Steele also served as defensive coordinator at both schools, while Tommy Tuberville coached against LSU at Ole Miss and Auburn.

🐅 3. The Coach Who Switched Tigers. Mike Donahue won 99 games and five conference championships as Auburn’s head coach before taking over LSU in 1923. When former Auburn players told him they’d pull for LSU, he told them Auburn would always be their school.

🏈 4. The Auburn Quarterback Who Ran LSU Recruiting. Former Auburn quarterback Sam Nader played on the Plains from 1963–67 before spending decades at LSU, where he helped recruit 32 future first-team All-SEC players and seven All-Americans.

🏀 5. The Auburn Man Who Coached LSU Basketball. Former Auburn football star Moon Ducote became LSU’s head basketball coach for the 1923–24 season. His Tigers went 8–12, so at least he didn’t help LSU too much. You might remember him as a Georgia killer.