Tennessee has one of the proudest, most successful football traditions in the Southeastern Conference, with six claimed national championships and 13 conference titles.

We’ve picked out 10 of the most important dates in the school’s history.

Oct. 15, 1892: In just its second season, the Tennessee football team remained a rag-tag bunch of students with no coach. But, unlike in 1891, the Vols won — securing the first victory in school history with a 25-0 win at Maryville (the Scots currently are a Division III school).

March 21, 1921: A group of construction workers broke ground on Shields-Watkins Field in Knoxville. Renamed Neyland Stadium in 1962 in honor of General Robert Neyland, who had recently died, the stadium is one of the most historic home venues in all of college football. Of course, it’s very different than when Shield’s-Watkins Field hosted its first football game against Emory & Henry on Sept. 24, 1921. The capacity since has grown from 3,200 to 102,455 today, one of the largest stadiums in the world.

Jan. 2, 1939: The best Tennessee team in history — and maybe the best team in the history of the SEC — culminated its ’38 season on this date. Tennessee capped an undefeated national championship team with a 17-0 Orange Bowl win ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma. The Vols allowed just 16 points in 11 games. In fact, it was part of a streak of 71 consecutive shutout quarters by Neyland’s Vols, still an NCAA record. Athlon Sports in 2009 named this Tennessee team the third-best in college football history. The team featured three All-Americans, including Bob Suffridge, Bowden Wyatt and George Cafego.

March 28, 1962: The Volunteers lost a huge member of the family, and the United States lost an important War hero, when Neyland passed away at the age of 70. Hired as an assistant in 1925, Neyland took over as head coach in either December of ’25 or January of ’26, when M.B. Banks relinquished the job, numerous sources indicate, although an exact date is difficult to find. From his coaching maxims to his thrashing of Paul “Bear” Bryant to his shut-down defenses, Neyland is one of the all-time legends in the SEC. Neyland finished his coaching career with four national championships, five SEC championships and a winning percentage of .848.

Oct. 21, 1972: “Rocky Top” is so ubiquitous at Tennessee games that it seems like it’s been around forever. In reality, the school’s Pride of the Southland first played the song on this date at halftime of the Tennessee-Alabama game in Neyland Stadium as part of a country music show. The song, originally written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant in 1967, the Osborne Brothers popularized it in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It immediately became a Vols staple after that game.

March 4, 1997: Many projected Peyton Manning, who had already graduated from the University of Tennessee, as the No. 1 overall pick of the ’97 draft, which the New York Jets held at the time. Instead, on this date, Manning announced his return to the Vols for his “senior” season as a grad student, a decision that comes up almost every time a talented college quarterback is considering the draft with eligibility remaining. UT didn’t win a national title until the following season, in ’98, but Vols fans got to enjoy one more season with their beloved quarterback, who in turn helped prepare the players around him for a championship run the next year.

Sept. 5, 1998: There were many drama-filled moments in the ’98 season, including the win against No. 2 Florida in overtime, the “miracle” fumble against Arkansas and the crowning achievement, a Fiesta Bowl win against Florida State with a national championship at stake. But fewer remember the early September tilt in Syracuse, N.Y. With Tee Martin at quarterback, completing just 9-of-26 passes in place of Manning, and Donovan McNabb leading the Orangemen, the teams traded salvos in a crazy fourth quarter. Twice the Vols faced deficits, and the second time, Martin threw an incomplete pass on fourth down. After what seemed like seconds, an official threw a flag for pass interference, incensing the home crowd. But UT finished the comeback in a game that otherwise may have thwarted a championship season before it really got started.

Sept. 18, 2004: The Vol Nation set the all-time Neyland Stadium attendance record of 109,061 during a 30-28 win against No. 11 Florida.

Dec. 26, 2004: Tennessee great Reggie White died of a cardiac arrhythmia at the way-too-young age of 43. The all-time NFL sack leader, White led the Vols in sacks three of his four seasons in Knoxville, including a team-record 15 in 1983 as the SEC Player of the Year. Within two years of his death, the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles retired White’s jersey number and he got elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Oh, and Tennessee retired his No. 92, of course.

Jan. 12, 2010: After just one season coaching at Tennessee, Lane Kiffin announced he accepted the same job at the University of Southern California. What started as a normal day in Knoxville became apocalyptic as the news shocked the school and its fans. Students rioted on campus. Kiffin was putting the finishing touches on a Top 5 recruiting class, with some early enrollees already arriving on campus. What looked like a bright future for the Vols suddenly darkened. Three days later, the Vols hired Derek Dooley as the team’s next coach.