With six national championships this century, Alabama understandably has plenty of representation across the college football landscape and the media. After retiring from coaching, Nick Saban immediately joined ESPN’s College Gameday desk, joining many of his former players, who also cover the sport or broadcast it on the network’s airwaves.
One of those players is national championship-winning quarterback Greg McElroy, who will be on the call with play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough and sideline reporter Molly McGrath for No. 6 Alabama’s Week 8 matchup against No. 11 Tennessee. Alabama fans will certainly be happy to hear their former QB, who has developed into one of the best color commentators in college football, but Vols fans aren’t.
On the call for Tennessee-Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa: Sean McDonough, former Alabama QB Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath.
— Ryan Schumpert (@rschump00) October 13, 2025
Greg McElroy set to announce Alabama vs Tennessee from Tuscaloosa in Week 8
The rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee dates back to 1901, but tensions have been on the rise for the Third Saturday in October since Tennessee finally started to punch back, with victories in 2022 and 2024, the program’s first in the rivalry since 2006.
With the dissolution of divisions in the SEC and Alabama and Tennessee now set as annual opponents in the schedule rotation, the animosity between the two fan bases will continue to grow, if that’s even possible. And ESPN scheduling McElroy to call the game is like gasoline on the fire for Tennessee fans, who have taken on the role of little brother in this rivalry since Nick Saban was first hired in 2007.
Awful - very biased !
— Coach Marshall (@Hoganknows) October 14, 2025
Tennessee fans are livid on social media, which could make for a very fun scroll for an Alabama fan already excited for kickoff at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night.
— Robert McVol (@vol_equalizer) October 13, 2025
Alabama would love to get back on the right side of the rivalry after last season’s 24-17 loss in Kalen DeBoer’s first season. The defeat in Knoxville, on the heels of a loss to Vanderbilt in Nashville, continued the Crimson Tide’s slide down the rankings. A slide that ultimately, with a late-season loss to Oklahoma, resulted in the Tide missing the College Football Playoff and finishing with fewer than 10 wins for the first time since Saban’s inaugural season.