It took Josh Heupel all of less than a day to recognize the importance of The Third Saturday in October rivalry after taking the head coaching position at the University of Tennessee in January 2021.
As Heupel has pointed out at least twice this week, the rivalry between Tennessee and Alabama was mentioned to him on the very first day that he took the job.
“I’ve said it multiple times before I even got introduced at the press conference, a couple of former players but donors too— this is a game that matters to everybody in this fanbase,” Heupel said on Thursday.
Tennessee and Alabama have squared off 104 times with the first game dating all the way back to 1901 in Birmingham. While Alabama has won 58 games to Tennessee’s 39 over that span of time, the animosity between the two sides has transcended the record books into one of college football’s storied rivalries.
That’s what makes the SEC expansion schedule such a hot-button issue for this topic.
With Texas and Oklahoma joining the Southeastern Conference in 2024, the SEC will be pivoting away from the Eastern and Western divisional format. The two options that are on the table include an eight-game conference schedule that would feature one permanent rival and seven rotating opponents among the other 14 in the conference and a nine-game schedule that would feature three permanent rivals and six rotating opponents among the other 12 from the field.
Tennessee’s rivalry draw in the eight-game scenario would likely be Vanderbilt based on historic relevance and the in-state connection. A nine-game scenario, though, would give Tennessee and the rest of the teams in the SEC more continuity for some of the longstanding rivalries in the conference including the Third Saturday in October.
“I think this is a great rivalry,” Heupel said on Thursday. “One that’s important to our fanbase, I’m sure it’s important to their fanbase too and it’s one that’s special, just (a) unique game and unique setting. Obviously, I think the league with everybody that’s coming in there’s a lot of factors that go into how they schedule but I certainly hope so (that the game will continue yearly).”
More from RTI: Tennessee Looking To Overcome Road Struggles Against Alabama
Despite only having two Tennessee-Alabama games under his belt, head coach Josh Heupel has seen every bit of evidence that he needs to in order to know how meaningful this game is to both the fanbases in Tuscaloosa and Knoxville. Heupel did lead Tennessee to its first win over Alabama in 15 years this past 2022 season, after all.
Not one Tennessee coach among Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt was able to smoke a cigar such as Heupel on the field.
“I just think the fanbase, this is one they’ve circled,” Heupel said. “I’ve said it multiple times before I even got introduced at the press conference, a couple of former players but donors too— this is a game that matters to everybody in this fanbase. It matters to us too. It has huge implications on your race to try and get to Atlanta as well. This is a big football game for us, huge test against a really good football team but it’s going to be a great afternoon.”
Heupel, a former National Championship-winning quarterback at Oklahoma, is no stranger to big rivalry games. Heupel’s Sooners went 1-1 against the University of Texas in the Red River Rivalry during the two years he spent in Norman, Oklahoma, from 1999-2000.
“Yeah, this is a special one,” Heupel said on Wednesday after being asked to compare the Third Saturday in October to the Red River Rivalry. “The proximity of everybody, the importance that it has always had. It’s different than [the Red River Rivalry] in that, that game is always played at a neutral site, so it’s a little bit different, but it makes it extremely special because you are bouncing back and forth between being home and on the road, too. This rivalry is extremely special. Not only for college football but for these two programs, too.”
The conference and its fans will continue to wait to see what the SEC ends up doing with the 2024 conference schedule next year and beyond. But one way or another, many are still hoping to see Tennessee-Alabama as a rivalry in October every year.
No. 11 Alabama will host No. 17 Tennessee this Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game broadcast will be on CBS.
