The rest of the country consistently underestimates the gut level passion of fans in the SEC. It's not that the SEC is better -- you can't prove that -- but its partisans do care more. Way, way more, and you can prove that: They chant harder, they bite harder, they burn former coaches in effigy (right, prior to Saturday's Alabama-LSU game) and sometimes, tragically, they start shooting:

An Escambia County (Alabama) couple died Saturday after an argument over the Alabama/LSU football game ended in shotgun blasts, according to Conecuh County authorities.
[...]
Investigators said witnesses told them that Dennis Smith, an LSU fan, called [Michael] Williams, a fan of the Crimson Tide, after the game Saturday evening and an argument ensued.

Officers said Donna Smith was a relative of Michael Williams' girlfriend.

Soon, the Smiths arrived at Williams' home and the men wound up in a physical altercation, officers said.

Smith retrieved a pistol from his vehicle, and threatened Williams, who armed himself with a shotgun and fired two blasts, striking and killing Dennis Smith, officers said.

Donna Smith then threatened Williams, who shot and killed the woman, they said.

Alcohol was probably involved, if you had to ask. There's not much to add to this terrible, terrible story, matched for grisliness only by the shooting death over a $20 bet between South Carolina and Clemson fans in 2006 or the murder in an argument over high school football in Alabama last summer, except maybe a warning: If you must taunt, please, restrict it to the phone, Internet, office or other well-lit, public locale.