The Tennessee Volunteers have found out who their three permanent Southeastern Conference opponents will be starting next season. In the new era of College Football the SEC no longer has East/West Divisions and will now increase conference games to 9 for each team. Each team will have a rotating list of six SEC opponents while keeping three annual rivalries for the next four years. Tennessee’s three permanent opponents will be: Alabama, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt.
Tennessee’s rivalry with Kentucky started in 1893 making it one of the oldest series in college football. The Vols and Cats used to have a trophy for this game which was a Beer Barrell. The Trophy ran from 1925-1999, a fatal alcohol-related car crash involving two UK football players a week before the 1998 contest prompted the end of the barrel exchange. Tennessee leads the all time series with Kentucky 84-26-9 after 120 meetings.
Tennessee’s rivalry with Vanderbilt came about in 1892. The schools from Nashville and Knoxville have played 118 times since 1892 with Tennessee leading the all time series 79-32-5.
Tennessee and Alabama, whose rivalry is officially called “The Third Saturday in October”, met for the first time in 1901 and have met 107 times. The game is, like the name suggests, played on the third Saturday in October every year. A tradition that started back in 1950’s and still continues to this day is the winning school of the game will have their coaches, players, and fans smoke a victory cigar. Alabama leads the all time series 59-40-7.