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Third Saturday in October
Teams	Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama Crimson Tide football |TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...  Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
Originated	1901
Series	Alabama leads 48–38–7
Largest Victory	Alabama 51, Tennessee 0 November 29, 1906
Highest Scoring Game	Tennessee 51, Alabama 43 October 25, 2003
Most Recent Game	Alabama 37, Tennessee 6 October 22, 2011
Current Win Streak	Alabama 5

The Third Saturday in October, also known as the Alabama–Tennessee football rivalry, is an American college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 rivalry

College rivalry

Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both academics and athletics, the latter being typically...

 game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football

Alabama Crimson Tide football

|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...

 team of the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 and the Tennessee Volunteers football

Tennessee Volunteers football

The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....

 team of the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

. The name refers to the usual calendar date on which the game was traditionally played prior to the 1992 football season, when the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC) split into its Eastern and Western divisions. From 1995 to 2010, it has only been scheduled for that date five times.

Overall, Alabama leads the series with an official 48–38–7 record.

Series history

The first game between the two sides was played in 1901 in Birmingham, ending in a 6–6 tie. From 1902 to 1913, Alabama dominated the series, only losing once, and never allowing a touchdown by the Volunteers. Beginning in 1928, the rivalry was first played on its traditional date and began to be a challenge for the Tide as Robert Neyland

Robert Neyland

Robert Reese Neyland, MBE was an American football player and coach and and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach as the University of Tennessee...

 began challenging Alabama for their perennial spot on top of the conference standings.

Between 1971–1981, Alabama held an eleven-game winning streak over the Volunteers and, between 1986–1994, a nine-game unbeaten streak. However, following Alabama's streak, Tennessee responded with a seven-game winning streak from 1995–2001. Alabama won the most recent game 41-10 in 2010, and lead the series 47–38–7.

Victory cigars

In the 1950s, Jim Goostree, the head trainer for Alabama, began another tradition as he began handing out cigars following a victory over the Volunteers. Both teams continued the tradition for some time, though kept it secret due to the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 rules concerning extra benefits and tobacco products. Alabama publicly restarted the tradition in 2005, though as a result, self-reported an NCAA violation before finally being banned following the violation.

Streaks

There have been several long winning streaks in the series. In the first major streak of the series, Bama won 7 straight over the Vols from 1905–1913 (the two teams did not play in 1910 and 1911), outscoring the Vols 112–0 in the process.

Alabama has the longest winning streak of the series, 11 games, from 1971 to 1981. It was broken in 1982 when Johnny Majors

Johnny Majors

Johnny Majors is a former American football player and coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Conference Most Valuable Player award, in 1955 and 1956. He finished second to Paul Hornung in voting for...

 led the Vols to an upset victory over Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

 and the Tide.

Alabama had a 9 game unbeaten streak from 1986 to 1994, including a tie in 1993 which was later forfeited due to NCAA sanctions. The streak was broken by Tennessee in 1995 when the Vols beat the Tide 41–14. Tennessee began their own 7 game win streak that night, which was broken when Alabama defeated the Vols 34–14 in 2002. Alabama currently enjoys a 5 game winning streak in the series from 2007-2011 with an average margin of victory during this stretch of 21 points.

All time

Alabama leads the all–time series 48–38–7 (with the 1993 tie forfeited to Tennessee by Bama due to NCAA penalties, and the 2005 Bama victory vacated due to NCAA penalty). Due to this technicality, Tennessee actually has one more "official" contest in the series (2005 Loss, which is officially not removed by the NCAA ruling), giving the Vols 38 wins to 49 losses in the series. Alabama has no official result (Win or Loss) for 2005, giving the Tide 48 wins to 38 losses in the series.

The game has been played in 3 different cities. Alabama leads the series when played in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 (21–14–6) (21-13-7 on the field) and Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

 (22–20–1). Also leads the series in Tuscaloosa (5-4) (Alabama leads 6-4 on the field)

Alabama won the last game, played on October 22, 2011, 37-6.

Game results

Alabama victories are colored ██ crimson. Tennessee victories are colored ██ orange. Ties are white
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

—	0–0–1
1903	Alabama	24	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	1–0–1
1904	Alabama	0	Tennessee	5	Birmingham, Alabama	—	1–1–1
1905	Alabama	29	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	2–1–1
1906	Alabama	51	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	3–1–1
1907	Alabama	5	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	4–1–1
1908	Alabama	4	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	5–1–1
1909	Alabama	10	Tennessee	0	Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...	ALA	6–1–1
1912	Alabama	7	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	7–1–1
1913	Alabama	6	Tennessee	0	Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...	ALA	8–1–1
1914	Alabama	7	Tennessee	17	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	8–2–1
1928	Alabama	13	Tennessee	15	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	8–3–1
1929	Alabama	0	Tennessee	6	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	8–4–1
1930	Alabama	18	Tennessee	6	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	9–4–1
1931	Alabama	0	Tennessee	25	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	9–5–1
1932	Alabama	3	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	9–6–1
1933	Alabama	12	Tennessee	6	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	10–6–1
1934	Alabama	13	Tennessee	6	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	11–6–1
1935	Alabama	25	Tennessee	0	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	12–6–1
1936	Alabama	0	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	12–6–2
1937	Alabama	14	Tennessee	7	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	13–6–2
1938	Alabama	0	Tennessee	13	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	13–7–2
1939	Alabama	0	Tennessee	21	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	13–8–2
1940	Alabama	13	Tennessee	27	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	13–9–2
1941	Alabama	9	Tennessee	2	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	14–9–2
1942	Alabama	8	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	15–9–2
1944	Alabama	0	Tennessee	0	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	15–9–3
1945	Alabama	25	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	16–9–3
1946	Alabama	0	Tennessee	12	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	16–10–3
1947	Alabama	10	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	17–10–3
1948	Alabama	6	Tennessee	21	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	17–11–3
1949	Alabama	7	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	17–11–4
1950	Alabama	9	Tennessee	14	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	17–12–4
1951	Alabama	13	Tennessee	27	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	17–13–4
1952	Alabama	0	Tennessee	15	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	17–14–4
1953	Alabama	0	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	17–14–5
1954	Alabama	27	Tennessee	0	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	18–14–5
1955	Alabama	0	Tennessee	20	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	18–15–5
1956	Alabama	0	Tennessee	24	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	18–16–5
1957	Alabama	0	Tennessee	14	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	18–17–5
1958	Alabama	7	Tennessee	14	Knoxville, Tennessee	—	18–18–5
1959	Alabama	7	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	—	18–18–6
1960	Alabama	7	Tennessee	20	Knoxville, Tennessee	UT	18–19–6
1961	Alabama	34	Tennessee	3	Birmingham, Alabama	—	19–19–6
1962	Alabama	27	Tennessee	7	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	20–19–6
1963	Alabama	35	Tennessee	0	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	21–19–6
1964	Alabama	19	Tennessee	8	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	22–19–6
1965	Alabama	7	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	22–19–7
1966	Alabama	11	Tennessee	10	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	23–19–7
1967	Alabama	13	Tennessee	24	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	23–20–7
1968	Alabama	9	Tennessee	10	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	23–21–7
1969	Alabama	14	Tennessee	41	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	23–22–7
1970	Alabama	0	Tennessee	24	Knoxville, Tennessee	—	23–23–7
1971	Alabama	32	Tennessee	15	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	24–23–7
1972	Alabama	17	Tennessee	10	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	25–23–7
1973	Alabama	42	Tennessee	21	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	26–23–7
1974	Alabama	28	Tennessee	6	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	27–23–7
1975	Alabama	30	Tennessee	7	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	28–23–7
1976	Alabama	20	Tennessee	13	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	29–23–7
1977	Alabama	24	Tennessee	10	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	30–23–7
1978	Alabama	30	Tennessee	17	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	31–23–7
1979	Alabama	27	Tennessee	17	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	32–23–7
1980	Alabama	27	Tennessee	0	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	33–23–7
1981	Alabama	38	Tennessee	19	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	34–23–7
1982	Alabama	28	Tennessee	35	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	34–24–7
1983	Alabama	34	Tennessee	41	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	34–25–7
1984	Alabama	27	Tennessee	28	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	34–26–7
1985	Alabama	14	Tennessee	16	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	34–27–7
1986	Alabama	56	Tennessee	28	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	35–27–7
1987	Alabama	41	Tennessee	22	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	36–27–7
1988	Alabama	28	Tennessee	20	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	37–27–7
1989	Alabama	47	Tennessee	30	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	38–27–7
1990	Alabama	9	Tennessee	6	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	39–27–7
1991	Alabama	24	Tennessee	19	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	40–27–7
1992	Alabama	17	Tennessee	10	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	41–27–7
1993†	Alabama	17	Tennessee	17	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	41–28–7
1994	Alabama	17	Tennessee	13	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	42–28–7
1995	Alabama	14	Tennessee	41	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	42–29–7
1996	Alabama	13	Tennessee	20	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	42–30–7
1997	Alabama	21	Tennessee	38	Birmingham, Alabama	ALA	42–31–7
1998	Alabama	18	Tennessee	35	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	42–32–7
1999	Alabama	7	Tennessee	21	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	42–33–7
2000	Alabama	10	Tennessee	20	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	42–34–7
2001	Alabama	24	Tennessee	35	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	42–35–7
2002	Alabama	34	Tennessee	14	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	43–35–7
2003‡	Alabama	43	Tennessee	51	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	43–36–7
2004	Alabama	13	Tennessee	17	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	43–37–7
2005†	Alabama	6	Tennessee	3	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	43–37–7
2006	Alabama	13	Tennessee	16	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	43–38–7
2007	Alabama	41	Tennessee	17	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	44–38–7
2008	Alabama	29	Tennessee	9	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	45–38–7
2009	Alabama	12	Tennessee	10	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	46–38–7
2010	Alabama	41	Tennessee	10	Knoxville, Tennessee	ALA	47–38–7
2011	Alabama	37	Tennessee	6	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	ALA	48–38–7
† Alabama would later forfeit the 1993 tie and vacate their 2005 win. ‡ Five overtime game.

Further reading