Nick Saban calls Alabama-Tennessee ‘one of the underrated rivalries’ in college football
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Nick Saban was on the sidelines for 17 Iron Bowls as the head coach of Alabama, going 12-5 against Auburn in arguably the biggest rivalry in college football.
The other date that Crimson Tide fans circle on their calendar, though, is the Third Saturday in October.
“I really do think one of the underrated rivalries is the Tennessee-Alabama game, because people don’t realize how much it means internally,” Saban said on “College GameDay.”
On Saturday, Alabama and Tennessee meet for the 108th time, the latest edition of a rivalry that stretches back to 1901 and one that eventually gathered steam.
“The reason for that was (because) Coach Bear Bryant and General (Robert) Neyland were so successful that it was always a big game back in the late ’50s, early ’60s, and it became a big thing,” Nick Saban said.
Of course, there’s the tradition of the winning team smoking cigars after the game, which Saban noted started in 1961 after the Tide’s athletic trainer cashed in on a bet to dance naked and smoke a cigar in the locker room if they beat the Vols. It started out as a Tide-only tradition before the Vols eventually picked up on it.
This time around, Tennessee will be looking to make it two straight wins in the series. It will also be looking to snap a 10-game losing streak in Tuscaloosa.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
