The Southerners have certainly done their share to keep "Whup Troy" alive over the years, so it's not entirely forgotten. And there's at least one store in Pike County selling "Whup Jax State" merch, so the rivalry is only mostly dead, even down there. And as Miracle Max once said, "There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."
That said, while it may be slightly alive, it's definitely in ICU.
While we were languishing in FCS, troy state's fans moved on first to UAB, then USA (or "South" as they prefer to call them), so I figured once we made it up to FBS, the "Ol School Bell" rivalry's defibrillator would come from Jax State's end of things.
And then Chandler Burks fumbled...
And now, if you ask any current Jax State student or alumni under 35 who their most hated team is, they'll answer with a nocturnal creature of the avian variety located just northwest of Atlanta.
Whenever we get the schedules to align and we're able to start playing troy state again -- especially if it's a competitive game, and doubly so if the Gamecocks win -- the rivalry will be kickstarted for sure. But I don't think it's ever going to be as heated as it was in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and very early 90s. By 1994, it was already beginning to wane. The rivalry in the late 90s and early 2000s was only a shadow of its former self.
JSU's No. 1 rival is Kennesaw now. And troy state's No. 1 is South. The rivalry with UAB is shared by both of us, but they're not No. 1 for either of us.
I don't think this will change. We'll have been playing KSU as a conference opponent for nearly a decade by the time we face troy state again. We'll probably have a nice secondary rivalry going with MTSU as well by then, and unless KSU turns it around, the Band of Blue will probably be the Southerners' biggest "band" rival. I don't think the current version of troy state's SOTS is up to the challenge of dethroning our friends to the north. SOTS is still a big band (~350 members) but their power is nowhere near what it used to be under Dr. Long. A lot could happen in 7-8 years, though, so I guess we'll see.
Point is... if we NEEDED a rival, troy state would step right back in as our No. 1. But we don't, so they won't. And they don't need us, either. So while this would still be a big game -- probably a sellout -- it wouldn't be an all-consuming, on-and-off-the-field cultural rivalry like it was in the old days.