UT fans wait anxiously outside the stadium for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin, Phil Fulmer, who will be honored for Hating Bama on Saturday.
When it comes traditional rivalries, many Alabama fans point to Auburn and the yearly match with the in-state little brother. They certainly deserve a vote for biggest rival due to their proximity and their delusional fan base. Another vote goes to current sparring partner, LSU, an SEC West rival who never got over Coach Saban leaving them at the altar. Forgotten to many Tide fans, Georgia Tech was once a major rival until violent conflicts and a coaching feud caused Tech to leave the conference.
However, to the traditional Alabama fan, there is no bigger game than Alabama versus Tennessee — a game that is often simply referenced as the Third Saturday in October even when it is not played on that date. The series began in 1901 and is built with equal parts respect and hate.
This week, as we celebrate ” Tennessee Hate Week,” you will likely read a lot about the rivalry between the schools. It is, traditionally, a series of streaks. Currently, the Tide holds a commanding ten-game lead in the series and looks to extend that to eleven this weekend. Tennessee fans and Tide fans will still get fired up for this game. Alabama’s recent dominance, perhaps, prompted one Birmingham writer to pronounce the rivalry dead earlier this week, calling it a “corpse in search of a coffin.”
Tennessee may be a lot of things, but a dead rivalry is not one of them. They have a loyal fan base who will show up to hate Alabama — even in a down year. When there is nothing else to look forward to, there is always the third Saturday in October. Academically, Tennessee sits near the bottom in comparison to SEC schools, but that won’t matter. Stylistically, Tennessee wears perhaps the most putrid color in all of sports, but they will proudly flood the town with prison orange on Saturday. They only have two championships to brag about, but will talk about football history and their place in it. A lot of that history is based on this rivalry with Alabama.
Tennessee has had some great coaches over the years. Neyland was one of the SEC’s best ever. Along with him, Dickey, Wyatt and Majors are also members of the College Football Hall of Fame. This Saturday, Vol fans (or Vile fans if you prefer) have chosen to honor Phil Fulmer, a man who won a lot of games, in his only head coaching job, but also a man who left behind a program so weak and unfocused that it still has not recovered. Yet, they will honor him anyway on Saturday. Fulmer is, after all, the man who played secret witness to the NCAA and got rival Alabama in trouble more than a decade ago in Memphis — an Ole Miss town that still haunts other SEC teams today.
Alabama is likely to win this Saturday as it has 48 other times in the series. What could be more appropriate in late October than turning a sea of orange into a parade of sad-faced pumpkins? No, this rivalry is not dead, it’s just lost a bit of perspective.
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