Top-10 showdowns have become routine in SEC baseball. It has been that way for years.
But the Tennessee-LSU series beginning April 25 in Baton Rouge doesn’t seem as routine because both programs have won the past two national championships and have a history of producing significant − and sometimes controversial − games in multiple sports.
No. 5 LSU won the national championship in 2023. No. 6 Tennessee won it last year. And the Vols might have won back-to-back national titles if they hadn’t lost a recruiting battle to LSU for Air Force transfer Paul Skenes, one of college baseball’s all-time most dominant pitchers.
Never mind that UT and LSU were never in the same division when the SEC split into East and West divisions. Or that both programs would list other conference schools as bigger rivals. The LSU-UT rivalry has produced more than its share of memorable games
In football, the Vols handed LSU one of its worst losses in history when it ended the Tigers’ 19-game winning and deprived them of back-to-back national championships with a 14-13 upset at Neyland Stadium in 1959.
LSU assumed the spoiler role many years later when Nick Saban’s Tigers rallied in the second half to upset Tennessee for the SEC championship in 2001. The victory cost the Vols a shot at a national championship in the Rose Bowl. Six years later, LSU won the national championship after narrowly avoiding a Tennessee upset in the SEC championship game.
The two programs have had high-stakes matchups in women’s basketball, too. The Lady Vols likely denied LSU a national championship in 2008 when they defeated it in 47-40 in the Final Four semifinals.
Coach Pat Summitt claimed her eighth national title two days later when it beat Stanford by 16 points in the championship game. LSU, not Stanford, was the second best team in the country that season, as it proved in a 78-62 regular-season victory over the Lady Vols.
LSU-Tennessee matchups haven’t decided championships in men’s basketball but have produce memorable games.
In the 1981-82 season, the Vols edged the Tigers 54-53 on a last-second tip-in by Dan Federmann. The basket was only possible because the timekeeper was slow to start the clock when the Vols inbounded the ball at their end of the court with six seconds to play.
LSU coach Dale Brown was understandably irate. So was LSU chancellor James Wharton. They wanted the officials to bring teams back onto the court and replay those final controversial seconds.
Tennessee coach Don DeVoe had other ideas. Known for a deliberate offense, DeVoe didn’t stick around for a replay, leading his players in a fastbreak from the court to the bus.
“When the ref calls the game, you get out of there,” DeVoe said at the time. “I learned that a long time ago.”
So, it was game over. Vols win.
A 1992 basketball game between LSU and Tennessee wasn’t close, but even more controversial.
Shaquille O’Neal and LSU were overwhelming Tennessee in the SEC tournament when UT’s Carlos Groves became so frustrated that he grabbed O’Neal by the waist with both hands before O’Neal went up for another dunk.
As O’Neal and Groves grappled briefly, and Brown rushed onto the court. The LSU coach pushed Groves and missed on a follow-up swing. There was more pushing − as well as a punch and slap or two − between players.
After reviewing the videotape, officials ejected five players from each team, including O’Neal and Groves.
Remarkably, Brown wasn’t ejected. All he got was a reprimand.
And the Tennessee-LSU rivalry got another memorable game.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee, LSU have history of significant, controversial games