Florida–Tennessee Rivalry: Once Historic, Now Fading
When mid-September rolls around, Florida and Tennessee met in one of college football’s most heated rivalries. At least that’s how it used to be.
Yet this year, instead of an early-season showdown that could define an entire year, Saturday’s matchup carries far less weight for either team.
“Nowadays,” Florida legend Steve Spurrier said, “they don’t care about the rivalries that much.”
Florida returns to The Swamp at 3-7 after a loss at then-No. 6 Ole Miss that eliminated it from bowl contention. The Gators are only playing for pride as they await the hiring of a new head coach.
The matchup is a tale of two sides. Following Nico Iamaleava’s departure for UCLA, Tennessee’s expectations for this season lowered. But the Volunteers are 7-3 with losses to No. 4 Georgia, No. 10 Alabama and No. 8 Oklahoma. Nonetheless, No. 20 Tennessee is essentially eliminated from College Football Playoff contention, barring major chaos.
To that point, shifting the Florida-Tennessee game to one of the last weeks of the season poses a greater risk of the contest not being as meaningful as it was early each season. If either team is struggling, a rivalry circled on every Gator and Vol fan’s calendar suddenly loses its edge.
Florida leads the all-time series 32-22, going head-to-head with Tennessee every year since 1989. However, the 36-year run will come to an end next season. Thanks to the SEC scheduling process, the Gators will not play Tennessee until 2027, and following Saturday’s contest, the Vols will not play in The Swamp until 2029.
These scheduling tweaks aren’t only an issue Florida’s experiencing. The SEC took away some of the classic matchups we see yearly in the conference. Florida just got the worst of the new schedule, losing both its annual Tennessee and LSU games.
“It’s kind of weird,” Florida edge George Gumbs Jr. said Monday. “When you think Florida, there are some teams you always play and one will be Tennessee. So it is a little weird.”
Losing this annual meeting stings for both Florida and Tennessee. Since the 1990s, the rivalry has been one of the sport’s best: From Tyrie Cleveland’s Hail Mary to Peyton Manning and Danny Wuerffel’s battles. For 18 years from 1990-2007, the Gators and Vols were both ranked in every matchup.
Now the long-standing rivalry is slowly fading into the sunset.
Category: College Football, Football, Gators Football, SEC
