While their record may not reflect it, the current Volunteer team is the best one the Tide has faced during its current winning streak
The fabled "Third Saturday in October" (or, in this case, the fourth Saturday in October) is a rivalry that has a life and history of its own. The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry represents the pinnacle of football hate for two teams who have played each other 96 times since 1901, and the venomous disdain that flows between the programs and their fan bases is no secret. A series of streaks, the Third Saturday in October rivalry has been played every year since 1928, and if it's true that familiarity breeds contempt, then the two teams are boiling in a cauldron of unadulterated contempt, to be sure.