TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For his entire life my granddaddy, a dyed-in-the-wool Crimson Tide fan, was adamant about how the Tide’s rivalries were supposed to be classified.
“Alabama’s biggest rival is Auburn,” he’d say, “but the most hated is Tennessee.”
Logically you’d think “biggest” and “most hated” would be synonymous, but as is often the case with college football, it’s all semantics.
With a matchup with No. 9 Tennessee coming up on Saturday, Alabama players and coach Nick Saban examined the comparison as well this week.
“This game is a really big rivalry game and a special one for a lot of people in our state, our supporters and our fans,” Saban said.