Bret Bielema hates Auburn

Though not historically bitter rivals, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has singled out one team he despises: the Auburn Tigers.

According to Reporter Eric Bolin of the Arkansas News Bureau, Bret Bielema finally spoke on his displeasure of SEC West rival Auburn. Quote Bielema: “Probably doesn’t need to be said in here how much I hate Auburn.”

Given the vast difference in game tempos displayed by Auburn’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense and Arkansas’ old-school Power I formation, it’s easy to understand the animosity coming from Bielema. Auburn has drawn criticism for its pace with regards to player safety. Bielema has been one of the biggest critics of Malzahn’s coaching style down on The Plains.

Bielema’s Razorback have not been able to clip Auburn in either 2013 or 2014 when both Bret Bielema and Gus Malzahn took over SEC West programs. With both the Tigers and the Razorbacks ranked in the AP Top 25 entering the season, expect a great game between Auburn and the Hogs on October 24th in Fayetteville.

Bret Bielema has also been critical of Malzahn’s gamesmanship by not giving Arkansas satisfactory game film prior to their meeting in 2013, saying that key elements of Auburn’s game plan were obviously missing. It’s an act of good faith to exchange footage of each other’s program in the week leading up to the game.

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With Auburn ranked No. 6 in the country and Arkansas No. 18, both look poised to make some noise in the SEC West this year where honestly any of the seven schools could represent the conference in the 2015 SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome in December.

Rivalries tend to take off when schools’ coaches aren’t fond of one another. While proximity certainly helped both Georgia and South Carolina’s animosity in the East, much of that had to do with Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier not seeing eye to eye to begin with.

An interesting twist in this budding rivalry between Arkansas and Auburn is that Gus Malzahn’s alma mater is the University of Arkansas. Remember when Arkansas didn’t take to kindly to Houston Nutt when he left for Ole Miss? The Hogs don’t like it when former Razorbacks actively try to beat them.

Half of the 2015 regular season sits between Week 1 next Saturday and the annual Arkansas-Auburn affair. Both could still be ranked with eyes set on the division crown or both could fall behind in the race and be out of the College Football Playoff picture by then. One thing is certain: Bret Bielema doesn’t care too much for Auburn and I’m sure that Gus Malzahn embraces the animosity.

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