Battle for the Rag

The Battle for the Rag is the name given to the LSU–Tulane football rivalry.^[2] It is an American college football rivalry game^[3] played by the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University and the Tulane Green Wave football team of Tulane University. The game was played nearly every year since its inception in 1893, with the last of ninety-eight games being played in 2009. Tulane and LSU spent much of their athletic histories as members of the same conference: the SIAA from 1899 to 1920, the Southern Conference from 1922 to 1932, and as charter members of the SEC from 1932 to 1966.

Battle for the Rag

LSU Tigers Tulane Green Wave
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 25, 1893 Tulane, 34–0
Latest meeting	October 31, 2009 LSU, 42–0
Next meeting	TBA
Trophy	Tiger Rag/Victory Flag
Statistics
Meetings total	98
All-time series	LSU leads, 69–22–7 (.740)[1]
Largest victory	LSU, 62–0 (1958)
Longest win streak	LSU, 18 (1983–present)
Current win streak	LSU, 18 (1983–present)

75km
50miles

Tulane

LSU

  

Locations of LSU and Tulane

The "Rag"

The 1914 0–0 tie between the teams

The winner is awarded a satin trophy flag known as the Tiger Rag at LSU and the Victory Flag at Tulane.^[4] The flag is divided diagonally, with the logos of each school placed on opposite sides and the Seal of Louisiana in the center. LSU's name for the flag comes from the popular tune Tiger Rag, one of the songs performed by the Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band.

The December 1973 matchup at Tulane Stadium

The original flag was created in 1940 to foster good sportsmanship, most likely in response to growing tension between fans of the two teams that eventually escalated into a riot after Tulane's victory in 1938. It is believed that this flag was destroyed in a 1982 fire at Tulane's University Center.^[5]

The 1963 game was only one of 5 across the country not to be canceled or postponed due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the day before.

In 2001, LSU and Tulane worked together to create a reconstruction of the rag based upon archived photographs.

2006 series renewal

In 2006 the rivalry was officially renewed, returning to yearly play for the first time since 1994. The teams began play that year and continued until 2009, when it was announced that LSU would pay Tulane $700,000 to void the final six years of the home-and-home series. LSU held that it would benefit if the remaining games were all played in Baton Rouge. Not wanting to give up its home games, Tulane agreed to end the series early, though the teams did agree to play one future game in New Orleans, a game that LSU has thus far refused to actually play. ^[6][7]

Game results

LSU victories

Tulane victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 25, 1893 New Orleans Tulane 34–0 2 October 26, 1895 Baton Rouge LSU 8–4 3 October 24, 1896† New Orleans LSU 6–0 4 December 17, 1898 Baton Rouge LSU 37–0 5 December 8, 1899 Baton Rouge LSU 38–0 6 November 17, 1900 New Orleans Tulane 29–0 7 November 16, 1901† New Orleans LSU 11–0 8 November 19, 1904 New Orleans Tulane 5–0 9 November 25, 1905 New Orleans LSU 5–0 10 December 9, 1911 Baton Rouge LSU 6–0 11 November 28, 1912 New Orleans LSU 21–3 12 November 22, 1913 Baton Rouge LSU 40–0 13 November 26, 1914 New Orleans Tie 0–0 14 November 25, 1915 Baton Rouge LSU 12–0 15 November 30, 1916 New Orleans LSU 14–4 16 November 29, 1917 Baton Rouge Tulane 28–6 17 November 22, 1919 New Orleans LSU 27–6 18 November 25, 1920 Baton Rouge Tulane 21–0 19 November 19, 1921 New Orleans Tulane 21–0 20 November 30, 1922 Baton Rouge LSU 25–14 21 November 24, 1923 New Orleans Tulane 20–0 22 November 27, 1924 Baton Rouge Tulane 13–0 23 November 21, 1925 Baton Rouge Tulane 16–0 24 November 25, 1926 New Orleans LSU 7–0 25 November 24, 1927 Baton Rouge Tulane 13–6 26 November 29, 1928 New Orleans Tie 0–0 27 November 28, 1929 Baton Rouge Tulane 21–0 28 November 27, 1930 New Orleans Tulane 12–7 29 November 28, 1931 New Orleans Tulane 34–7 30 November 26, 1932 Baton Rouge LSU 14–0 31 December 2, 1933 New Orleans Tie 7–7 32 December 1, 1934 Baton Rouge Tulane 13–12 33 November 30, 1935 New Orleans LSU 41–0 34 November 28, 1936 Baton Rouge #2 LSU 33–0 35 November 27, 1937 New Orleans #10 LSU 20–7 36 November 26, 1938 Baton Rouge Tulane 14–0 37 December 2, 1939 New Orleans #5 Tulane 33–20 38 November 30, 1940 Baton Rouge LSU 14–0 39 November 29, 1941 New Orleans LSU 19–0 40 November 26, 1942 Baton Rouge LSU 18–6 41 November 20, 1943 New Orleans Tulane 27–0 42 November 30, 1944 Baton Rouge LSU 25–6 43 December 1, 1945 New Orleans LSU 33–0 44 November 30, 1946 Baton Rouge #9 LSU 41–27 45 December 6, 1947 New Orleans Tie 6–6 46 November 27, 1948 Baton Rouge #14 Tulane 46–0 47 November 26, 1949 New Orleans #13 LSU 21–0 48 December 2, 1950 New Orleans Tie 14–14 49 December 1, 1951 New Orleans LSU 14–13 50 November 29, 1952 New Orleans LSU 16–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 51 November 28, 1953 Baton Rouge LSU 32–13 52 November 27, 1954 New Orleans LSU 14–13 53 November 26, 1955 Baton Rouge Tie 13–13 54 December 1, 1956 New Orleans LSU 7–6 55 November 30, 1957 Baton Rouge LSU 25–6 56 November 22, 1958 New Orleans #1 LSU 62–0 57 November 21, 1959 Baton Rouge #3 LSU 14–6 58 November 26, 1960 New Orleans LSU 17–6 59 November 25, 1961 Baton Rouge #4 LSU 62–0 60 November 24, 1962 New Orleans #8 LSU 38–3 61 November 23, 1963 Baton Rouge LSU 20–0 62 November 21, 1964 New Orleans #8 LSU 13–3 63 November 20, 1965 Baton Rouge LSU 62–0 64 November 19, 1966 New Orleans LSU 21–7 65 November 25, 1967 Baton Rouge LSU 41–27 66 November 23, 1968 New Orleans LSU 34–10 67 November 22, 1969 Baton Rouge #10 LSU 27–0 68 November 28, 1970 New Orleans #6 LSU 26–14 69 November 27, 1971 Baton Rouge #10 LSU 36–7 70 December 2, 1972 New Orleans #11 LSU 9–3 71 December 1, 1973 New Orleans Tulane 14–0 72 November 23, 1974 Baton Rouge LSU 24–22 73 November 22, 1975 New Orleans LSU 42–6 74 November 20, 1976 Baton Rouge LSU 17–7 75 November 19, 1977 New Orleans LSU 20–17 76 November 25, 1978 Baton Rouge LSU 40–21 77 November 24, 1979 New Orleans #18 Tulane 24–13 78 November 22, 1980 Baton Rouge LSU 24–7 79 November 28, 1981 New Orleans Tulane 48–7 80 November 27, 1982 Baton Rouge Tulane 31–28 81 November 19, 1983 New Orleans LSU 20–7 82 November 24, 1984 Baton Rouge #16 LSU 33–15 83 November 30, 1985 New Orleans #13 LSU 31–19 84 November 29, 1986 Baton Rouge #5 LSU 37–17 85 November 21, 1987 New Orleans #9 LSU 41–36 86 November 26, 1988 Baton Rouge #16 LSU 44–14 87 November 25, 1989 New Orleans LSU 27–7 88 November 24, 1990 Baton Rouge LSU 16–13 89 November 23, 1991 New Orleans LSU 39–20 90 November 21, 1992 Baton Rouge LSU 24–12 91 November 20, 1993 Baton Rouge LSU 24–10 92 November 19, 1994 New Orleans LSU 49–25 93 November 23, 1996 Baton Rouge #18 LSU 35–17 94 September 1, 2001 Baton Rouge #14 LSU 48–17 95 September 23, 2006 Baton Rouge #10 LSU 49–7 96 September 29, 2007 New Orleans #2 LSU 34–9 97 November 1, 2008 Baton Rouge #15 LSU 35–10 98 October 31, 2009 Baton Rouge #9 LSU 42–0 Series: LSU leads 70–22–6[1]

^† LSU was declared the winner by forfeit in the 1896 and 1901 games. The score for each game prior to a forfeit declaration was: 1896-Tulane 2, LSU 0, and 1901-Tulane 22, LSU 0. Official scores subsequent to the forfeitures are listed in the table.
^# Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to each game.

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "mcubed.net : NCAA Football : Series Records : Louisiana State vs. Tulane". www.mcubed.net.
2. "Remembering the LSU-Tulane rivalry – and the first Battle for the Rag". nola.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
3. "Looking at the SEC's 10 most-played rivalries". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
4. "College football's most unique rivalry trophies". foxsports.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
5. "Tiger Rag: Rekindling a Rivalry and Returning a Tradition". lsu.edu. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
6. "LSU pays Tulane to end series early". espn.com. 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
7. "LSU, Tulane in discussions to play each other in football in 2013". nola.com. Retrieved September 6, 2012.

External links

Media related to Battle for the Rag at Wikimedia Commons