Tennessee-Alabama football history: Series record between Vols, Crimson Tide

Posted by Admin October 19, 2024 Football

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It’s that time of the year: the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry between Tennessee and Alabama.

The 10th-ranked Vols and the No. 7 Crimson Tide have had several notable battles over the years, and this season’s meeting should be no different as both squads have put together a top-10-ranked scoring offense in college football through the first seven weeks.

Though the rivalry dates back to 1901, this year’s meeting in Knoxville will feature several firsts. Nick Saban will not be manning the Alabama sidelines in the rivalry game for the first time since 2007. His predecessor, Kalen DeBoer, will be coaching his first game against the Vols in his head coaching career. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava will start his first game vs. the Crimson Tide.

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Alabama will look for its second consecutive win on Saturday, after Tennessee and Josh Heupel snapped the Crimson Tide’s 15-game winning streak in 2022. Both teams are coming off dramatic wins in their last games, and are in search of a sixth win of the season to become bowl-eligible.

Here’s a look at the series history between Tennessee and Alabama:

Tennessee-Alabama series history

According to Tennessee football’s media guide, Saturday’s matchup will be the 107th rendition of the rivalry between the Vols and Crimson Tide.

Saturday’s matchup will be the 96th consecutive meeting of the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry, which has been played uninterrupted since 1944 and has missed only one season (1943) since 1928.

The rivalry has something of a streaky nature, with Alabama owning numerous multi-game streaks vs. Tennessee, including 11 straight wins from 1971-82 and a nine-game unbeaten streak from 1986-94. The latter streak wasn’t interrupted until a freshman quarterback by the name of Peyton Manning led the Vols to break it in 1995, starting the Vols’ longest win streak in the series: seven games, from 1995 through 2001.

This weekend’s meeting between the Vols and the Crimson Tide will be the third consecutive meeting where both teams are ranked in the top 25 as well as the third consecutive game in which the game actually takes places on its rivalry namesake: the third Saturday in October.

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Tennessee record vs Alabama

Series record: Alabama leads 60-39-7*
Tennessee’s last win: 2022 (52-49)
Alabama’s last win: 2023 (34-20)

* Alabama lists its official record as 59-39-7 and its actual record as 60-38-8.

According to Tennessee’s record book, the Vols are 39-60-7 in its previous 106 matchups against Alabama, with the Vols’ last win coming in 2022 in Knoxville.

However, Alabama notes its official record vs. Tennessee at 59-39-7, as the Crimson Tide’s 2005 win over the Vols was one of 21 wins vacated by the NCAA between the 2005 and 2007 seasons under former Alabama coaches Mike Shula and Saban. Alabama also forfeited all its regular-season wins from the 1993 season, including a 17-17 tie with Tennessee.

The first meeting between the Vols and the Crimson Tide took place on Nov. 28, 1901, in Birmingham, Alabama. In that 1901 meeting, both teams finished in a 6-6 tie.

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The rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee has been lopsided rivalry over the last 17 seasons in favor of the Crimson Tide — i.e., the Saban era in Tuscaloosa, from 2007-2023. In this span, Alabama won 16 of 17 meetings against Tennessee, with the lone loss coming in 2022.

Tennessee’s win that year at Neyland Stadium was not only an upset win for the Vols (as Alabama was ranked No. 3 in the country) but also was one of the highest-scoring games in the rivalry series, as both teams combined to score 101 total points. Vols kicker Chase McGrath hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Heupel his first win over Saban as a head coach.