The Tale of the Tape
Teams: LSU vs. Tulane
Total Meetings: 98
First Meeting: November 25, 1893
All-Time Series: LSU leads 69-22-7
The Tale of the Trophy
LSU and Tulane have not met since 2009 (with a future meeting scheduled in 2030), and their rivalry has largely been forgotten about in modern times. However, during the first part of the 20th century, these two schools represented one of college football’s most intense feuds. Their opening match up was Louisiana’s first intercollegiate football game. Both were members of the same conferences from 1899 until 1966 and were founding members of the SEC in 1938. That same year, an ugly incident occurred just after Tulane won their annual game. Players fist fighting on the field led to a riot in the stands in which students and fans used torn-off pieces of stands at LSU’s Tiger Stadium as clubs to hit each other.
Following this catastrophe, “The Rag” was created in 1940. It featured the logos of both schools joined together by the Louisiana state seal in the middle. The creation of this satin flag (it is really more of a flag than a rag) intended to promote good sportsmanship. The original rag was lost in a fire on Tulane’s campus in 1982 but was reconstructed in 2001 by using old photographs. Interestingly enough, Tulane has not won a game in this rivalry since the first rag perished. In Baton Rouge, they call this keepsake the “Tiger Rag” after LSU’s fight song. In New Orleans, the prize is referred to as the “Victory Flag.”
