I have in-laws in Mississippi who have been Ole Miss students and alums for generations. This year at Thanksgiving, even though Ole Miss was long eliminated from a bowl game, the institutional hatred for "State" was running at a fever pitch. I had a 12-year-old girl thoroughly explain to me every scenario that would result in Mississippi State being eliminated from a good bowl game, right down to indirect consequences from LSU and Alabama and I don't know what else.
It's not on the same level as the UT/aTm rivalry in Texas, but it was kind of alarming watching a 12-year-old girl's eyes light up in glee as she explained every possible way that Mississippi State could shit the bed.
I lived in Birmingham for awhile in my early twenties. Two things I was struck by -- one, how much cachet being from the Lone Star state carried with it. It was insanely easy to pick up girls, women, dowagers, etc. (NTTAWWT), just by whipping out the Native Texan credentials. Also, it was amazing to me to see how strong the U of A/Auburn rivalry was. I imagine it was something similar to Ole Miss/Miss. St. I don't know if it was on the same level as UT/A&M or not. I thought it was - those people were dead serious. Families were split along
alma mater-ial lines, and the whole place went into a sort of lockdown the actual week of the game. Friends quit talking to friends, cousins to cousins, and so on. Everyone retrenched to behind whatever line they were affiliated with. Damnedest thing.
Actually, there were other things that struck me about Alabama; Birmingham anyway. But that was nearly thirty years ago, and I've never been back except to go through on my way to somewhere else. Things may be different now.
