Known as the “Third Saturday in September,” which, obviously, will not be the case in 2020, the rivalry between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers blossomed into one of the Southeastern Conference’s best in the 1990s under their then-respective head coaches, Steve Spurrier and Phil Fulmer.
Meeting on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, the Gators will enter play at 7-1 and ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll, while the Volunteers are 2-5, having dropped five-straight games.
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) released their updated projections on Sunday, giving Florida an 85.3 percent chance to prevail victorious.
Here is ESPN’s definition of the FPI:
“The FPI is a measure of team strength meant to be the best predictor of a team’s success going forward for the rest of the season.
“FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.
“Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from season prior to 2019 may not be complete.”
Dating to 1916, the Gators have clashed with Tennessee 49 times and own a 29-20 edge in the series, including three consecutive wins.
Saturday’s action will kick at 3:30 p.m. ET on the SEC on CBS with Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, and Jamie Erdahl on the call.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Teddy Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. In addition to his work here, he has covered the Michigan Wolverines for GBMWolverine and Wolverine Digest. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.
