The record books say the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry began with the first meeting of the teams in 1901 in Birmingham. But the reality is that things really started heating up between the Crimson Tide and the Volunteers on October 20, 1928.
The teams had not met since 1914 and much had happened in that 14-year gap. Wallace Wade had built Alabama into a powerhouse, winning the national championship and going to the Rose Bowl in 1925 and ’26. Tennessee, meanwhile, had tried to inject some life into its program by hiring a young Army captain named Robert R. Neyland.