“The Third Saturday in October” isn’t nearly as close as it used to be – but for even the most intense SEC rivalries, one-sided runs like this aren’t that rare.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide has won 10 in a row in the Alabama-Tennessee series and is heavily favored to extend that streak Saturday against the reeling Vols. Alabama hasn’t lost to Tennessee since Nick Saban took over in 2007, and seven of those wins have come by at least 20 points.
Most of the SEC’s “historic” rivalries have gone through stretches like this, and most of them eventually have returned to something approaching equilibrium.