most people consider Auburn/Alabama to be a bigger rivalry then UT/Alabama.
The way the league is setup now, UT/GA and UT/FL have more weight on the SEC east standings.
i would argue the FL/UGA is more important that either of those games mentioned above in today's atmosphere...that could change very quickly obviously....
While FL gets my blood boiling, no doubt, UGA never has. I mean i don't like them, but i still usually expect to beat UGA....we beat them 9 straight games. they beat us 4 or 5. We got a huge upset while they were in the top 3 in Athens in 04...it's shaping up to be a good rivalry and is.....but i digress. the Florida rivalry while i hate the gators, we all HATED spurrier more. he was the one that reall got our blood boiling. Fulmer vs. Spurrier was the headline more times than it was Vols vs. Gators. And admit it...since Spurrier left Florida, that game just hasn't had the same zeal it had in the 90's. Still very heated, still means a ton to the conf. standings, we don't like them, they don't like us...all true. but i for one would have liked Fulmer to have a chance to gain some ground on Spurrier after that 2001 season. leaving when he did, even though we beat him last, he still had 4 games on him with his departure...and low and behold, it's now grown to 5. Take USC for example...there's no real rivalry there, but it's Spurrier vs. Fulmer once again...can Phil ever turn the tide, pardon the pun, on the 'ol ball coach? hope so.
that is not the case with Bama. it's crimson vs. oragne. Smokey vs the big dumb elephant. it
IS TIDE vs. VOLS. there is no one figure or player that got our blood boiling. you know what gets the blood boiling for TN fans? the incessant chanting of "roll tide, roll tide, roll tide". ugh. It's bama fans holding up 4, 5, 6, 7's on cards during the streak in the 80's and early 90's. it's Jay Barker and Gene STallings smoking cigars after beating us. It's the TN football team singing "we don't give a damn about the whole state of alabama, 'cause we're from Tennessee" after we beat them. i'm sure some Bama fans would tell you that "Rocky top" has caused a few profanity laden outbursts as well. Bama just boils down to good old hatred. No need to have anything on the line. We simply don't like each other and each October, we both draw lines in the sand and say "bring it".
oh...i'm ready. go vols.:rock: