This year’s installment of the Tennessee-Kentucky rivalry is actually meaningful, which is something that can’t be said about most recent games.

For most of the past decade, the Vols have been stuck in rebuilding mode. They’ve had three coaches in a span of eight years since firing Phillip Fulmer. Tennessee experienced a three-year bowl drought from 2011-13 before improving its record in each of the past two seasons.

Kentucky, of course, has had minimal success in football in recent years. The Wildcats haven’t made a bowl game since 2010 or won a conference championship since 1976.

In fact, the “Battle for the Barrel” has been pretty one-sided with the Vols winning 48 of 56 games since 1960. Tennessee enjoyed a 26-year winning streak over the Wildcats up until Kentucky’s 10-7 upset in 2011. However, the Vols have won each of the last four games by double-digit margins.

Really, the last relevant game between the two teams came in 2007. The Vols were playing for an SEC East Division title in their final regular season game at Lexington. Kentucky entered the game at 7-4 (3-4 SEC) and was one of only two teams that defeated eventual national champion LSU.

The teams played through four overtimes before Tennessee won, 52-50, following a failed 2-point conversion attempt by the Wildcats. That was the last time both teams entered their annual matchup where it didn’t seem too one-sided or completely irrelevant to the conference standings.

So this year’s game, which could decide the SEC East champion, is easily the most important in years. Kentucky enters Saturday’s game second in the East with a 4-3 conference record. Tennessee, who many assumed to be the inevitable division champion several weeks ago, is still in the running at 2-3 despite currently sitting in fifth place.

This will be the first time that the rivalry produces an actual meaningful game in years. Even with the Vols’ recent turnaround, the last few matchups have had little relevance other than whether they’d have a shot at certain bowl games. But with both teams vying for an SEC East title, this year’s game is the most important in years.

It’s also important for the coaches. Both Tennessee’s Butch Jones and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops have had roller coaster tenures at their respective schools. Fittingly, they both accepted jobs prior to the 2013 regular season and faced rebuilding projects.

So far, Jones has produced three consecutive bowl seasons with the Vols, having already won six games this season. He’s also managed to defeat Florida and Georgia in the same season, which hasn’t been done since Fulmer’s hayday — albeit this year’s teams are far less challenging opponents.

But he still faces plenty of criticism with Tennessee losing three consecutive games as well as its two-time leading rusher Jalen Hurd prior to last week’s rout of Tennessee Tech. Losing to Kentucky would only intensify his hot seat, especially with the Vols having controlled their own destiny in the East prior to losing to South Carolina.

Like Jones, Stoops was given early leeway for improvement. In 2014, it seemed like his rebuilding project was beginning to take shape as the Wildcats started with a 5-1 record, and he was given his second extension.

But Kentucky finished on a six-game losing streak and missed out on a bowl game, despite needing only one win for eligibility. Similarly, the Cats started with a 4-1 record in 2015 before losing six of their last seven games.

But after a slow start in 2016, Stoops has managed to win back over the fanbase with several impressive performances in conference play. Obviously, every game is crucial for a coach’s job status but particularly for these two after having varying support throughout their tenures.

For once in a “Blue Moon,” the Tennessee-Kentucky rivalry has relevance again and should prove to be one of the better SEC matchups on the Week 11 schedule.