It may sound crazy to give anyone associated with Tennessee props this week, but thanks to Josh Heupel, the excitement around the Third Saturday in October has returned. This is one of the most storied rivalries in college football, from beating the Vols being the most important win each season for Bear Bryant, to the shenanigans of Phil Fulmer that really brought a nastiness between the two programs, and, of course, the dominant run during the Saban years that killed some of the excitement that surrounds this rivalry.
After Fulmer stepped down, Tennessee was a program that was lost in the wild, which of course, led to many coaching changes and an embarrassingly long losing streak to the Crimson Tide. Josh Heupel was brought in to stop the bleeding and return this once storied program back to prominence. Heupel has brought a certain excitement back to Knoxville, which has not only delivered a playoff appearance but, most importantly, winning two of the last three over hated rival Alabama. There was a period where you rarely heard anything from Tennessee fans leading into the game, and many younger Tide fans consider LSU a bigger rivalry.
The excitement that surrounded this game during the majority of the 90s and the early 2000s has come back to both fan bases. Vols fans are the most confident that they've been going into this game since the last time they had a winning streak in the series. Alabama not being able to win against Tennessee just by stepping on the field has brought back the excitement of this game, especially to younger Alabama fans. Now we are on the verge of a game that has huge implications in both the SEC and the playoff race. Josh Heupel will be looking to lead Tennessee not only to their first in Tuscaloosa since 2004 but also their first time winning two in a row since then.