There was a time — a time not long ago, in fact — when Georgia was penciled in as a ‘W’, Tennessee was a nailbiting early-season test of our team’s toughness, and Florida State was the November crucible which either opened or closed the doors to Florida’s national title hopes.

How times have changed.

Urban Meyer is 9-1 against Florida’s “Big 3″ rivals, and 11-2 if you count Spurrier’s Gamecocks. The Gators have dominated FSU and the Vols, and beaten the Bulldogs two out of three tries. That’s a hell of a record for a Florida head coach. That’s one for the books.

Today, in 2008, Georgia is the biggest threat to Florida’s success, Tennessee is a relatively minor concern, and Florida State is a complete afterthought. The fires of an intense rivalry never fully go out, but Gator Nation is down to glowing coals on these two former bonfires. FSU’s fall from grace never seems to stop; the ‘Noles have yet to hit rock bottom, staring into the yawning gape of a sub-.500 season with the threat of NCAA sanctions from Tutor-Gate still looming large. Meanwhile, Tennessee is a rudderless ship, short on leadership and bereft of talent at the QB position, counting the days until Fulmer falls on his sword — assuming he ever does.

Not a bad time to be enjoying the fruits of Urban Meyer’s renaissance of Florida football. Not a bad time at all.

But the question begs to be asked: who are Florida’s most important rivals today?

I posit that Georgia always occupies the Public Enemy #1 slot, and I hope few would argue with that. There’s no question that the Dawgs have what it takes to win lots of SEC games. And in terms of rivals, I suggest that LSU should now move to #2 on the list.

Georgia and LSU. Two consistently good teams, programs with great recent success, programs that have adapted to the modern climes of college football, and recruit lights-out year in and out.

In 2008, those are the teams we have to structure our program to beat.

LSU tends to focus on a power running game with a unique combination of power and speed (Charles Scott, Jacob Hester, etc.) and “game manager” style play from their quarterback. And their defense is arguably among the best in the nation, year after year.

Georgia tries to bring balance to the table by running more of a traditional pro-style offense which works by setting up the run and passing on play-action, but they also have big play ability from the shotgun.

Both are difficult to defend, and both are difficult to score against. When you talk Florida, Georgia, and LSU, I think you’ve got the three best teams in the conference, hands down, with Alabama and Auburn as dangerous outliers. The “Big 3″ of modern SEC football have all been ranked inside the Top 5 at some point in each of the last three consecutive seasons. That makes the trio among the best teams in all of college football.

Tennessee and Florida State have nothing on these teams. FSU, in particular, is a mere shadow of their former selves. They are no longer relevant on the national stage and are likely at least 2-3 years out from any chance of making a comeback under Jimbo Fisher — assuming it ever happens at all, considering the likelihood of NCAA sanctions. When you add up FSU’s mediocre seasons going back to 2004, it stucks up to be a good 8+ years of mediocrity. A program that suffers that badly, for that long, takes a hit. Just ask fans of once-proud programs like Syracuse and Notre Dame. And no one’s talking about Tennessee anymore — losing to UCLA wasn’t even a shocker for the college football institution. Just another expected meltdown, another undisciplined team going under with Captain Fulmer at the helm.

It’s time to move past the emphasis on FSU and Tennessee and bring the full brunt of Gator Nation’s antipathy against Georgia and LSU. They are good programs which deserve our respect, but they also deserve our full attention as our primary rivals. The Dawgs and Tigers will be good for years to come, and there will be many hard-fought battles. These are the rivalries which matter in the modern age of Gator football.