Alabama Football vs. the Tennessee Volunteers is an important rivalry game every season. The series goes back to 1901. The two teams have played each other almost every season for nearly 100 years. It has been a series with several streaks. The Alabama Crimson Tide won one game among 13 games from 1948 through 1960. The Vols won 10 of 12 games from 1995 through 2006.
Alabama owns the most impressive win streaks in the series. The Crimson Tide won 11 straight from 1971 through 1981 and 15 straight from 2007 through 2021. Overall Alabama leads the series with 60 wins to 39 wins for the Volunteers. Eight games ended in ties.
In a recent ranking of college football rivalries, Alabama vs. Tennessee was ranked No. 11 by The Athletic. Tennessee fans will love and Alabama fans will hate that the same source picked the 'best' game in the series as the Vols' 2022 win over Alabama in Neyland Stadium.
The Worst Alabama Football Third Saturday in October
Taking the Alabama response further, one reason why the 2022 game was not the best in the 107-game series is that it was not the Crimson Tide's worst loss. The 2022 loss was crushing. It can be argued that every loss to an arch-rival is crushing. But more crushing than 2022 was a 51-43 overtime loss to the Vols in 2003.
Alabama held a 20-13 lead with 4:47 left in the 4th Quarter. The Vols tied the game with 23 seconds left. Alabama missed a 45-yard field goal as time expired. Five overtimes followed. In overtime, the Vols converted a 4th-and-19 for a first down, followed by a touchdown. Well before the end, both teams were exhausted. The Vols prevailed. Many years later, a Knoxville writer described the outcome as "Alabama eventually blinked."
There was no blinking. Many great plays were made during the game. The Tennessee Vols had the good fortune to make one or two more great plays than the Alabama Crimson Tide. The almost five-hour game was a crumbling, body blow to many Alabama fans. It was easily the 'worst' game in the long series.
For the record the 2003 game was played on the fourth Saturday in October. But when Alabama and Tennessee play in the regular season it is always the 'Third Saturday'.
Note: Series record provided by mcubed.net.