Tennessee vs. LSU is one of the SEC’s better, now occasional rivalries.

Both programs have won national championships. Twice, these programs met in the SEC Championship Game. While they used to meet as part of a 2-year home-and-home, the new scheduling rotation keeps them apart longer than we’d like.

Saturday, they’ll face each other for the first time since 2017, in Death Valley.

Tennessee is ranked No. 8 and favored by 3 against No. 25 LSU.

Can LSU stay hot and pull off the upset? It would be rare. Just 7 times has an unranked or lower-ranked team upset a higher-ranked team.

If the Tigers do, they’ll join this list of the biggest upsets (or in 2 cases, shocking results) in the Tennessee vs. LSU rivalry.

9. No. 11 Tennessee 24, No. 10 LSU 17 (1972)

The Volunteers and the Tigers weren’t scheduled to meet in 1972, but they wound up facing off in the Bluebonnet Bowl. QB Condredge Holloway helped Tennessee pull out a 7-point win in the Astrodome — 1 of just 9 times that a lower-ranked (or unranked) team registered a win in the series. Holloway, in his first year as Tennessee’s starting QB, was named the game’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player after accounting for all 3 Vols TDs (2 rushing, 1 passing).

8. No. 20 Tennessee 26, No. 19 LSU 0 (1942)

The teams were as close as could be in the ranking at kickoff, but they weren’t close at all on the field for this game. This remains Tennessee’s 2nd-largest margin of victory in the series. The Vols went on to win the Sugar Bowl that season and finished No. 7 in the country.

7. No. 13 LSU 28, No. 8 Tennessee 24 (2006)

By season’s end, this didn’t look like much of an upset. LSU ended the season 11-2 and ranked No. 3 in the country. But this game was at Neyland and was the 3rd game in a regular-season-ending 7-game winning streak. Tennessee finished the season ranked No. 25.

6. Tennessee 24, No. 18 LSU 24 (1982)

OK, so we can quibble about whether a tie is technically an upset, but this outcome is notable because a Tigers team that was ranked as high as No. 6 during the season couldn’t get a home win against a Volunteers team that was never ranked the entire season.

5. Tennessee 3, No. 7 LSU 3 (1964)

We can have more tie quibbling here, but when the No. 3 team in the country ties an unranked team it has to be one of the more surprising outcomes in the series – maybe even the most.

4. No. 10 Tennessee 30, No. 4 LSU 27 (OT) (2005)

The Volunteers overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit in LSU coach Les Miles’ first game in Tiger Stadium, which had been delayed because of Hurricane Katrina. The craziest part about this upset is that Tennessee only won 3 more games the rest of the season. The Vols, who opened the season at No. 3 finished 5-6 and saw their 16-year bowl streak end.

3. No. 13 Tennessee 14, No. 1 LSU 12 (1959)

The Volunteers knocked off the No. 1-ranked reigning national champions, ending their 19-game winning streak. It was the 2nd time the No. 1 team lost a game in this series. Again, Tennessee couldn’t capitalize, though. The Vols finished the season 5-4 and unranked.

2. No. 21 LSU 31, No. 2 Tennessee 20 (2001)

Not only did the West Division champion Tigers upset the East Division Volunteers in the SEC title game, but they knocked the No. 2 team in the country out of a spot in the national championship game against No. 1 Miami in the Rose Bowl. In the process, the Tigers avenged their regular-season loss to the Vols in Knoxville.

1. LSU 38, No. 11 Tennessee 31 (2000)

The Tigers were 2-2 and 0-1 in the SEC when they upset the Volunteers in Tiger Stadium to give first-year coach Nick Saban his first SEC victory.

Things turned out pretty well for Saban after that.