It's always said you can "throw the records out the window" in this game, but that is utter foolishness. The team that is supposed to win generally does...that is, except for those rare "Kick-6" type outcomes.
The casual football fan simply places too much emphasis on rivalry games. Not in regard to their importance to a fan base, but in the sudden supposed levelness of the playing field between two, as if some hatred quotient is enough to even the scales between David and Goliath on a regular basis.
While the phrase is thrown around in regard to the annual Iron Bowl, it really has little meaningless.