Bama won't be down long, and, for me, the juice about beating Florida is leftover from Spurrier.
Beating Florida and Georgia (maybe USC soon) is about winning the SEC East and that'll always be a big deal. Especially with the Dogs so good for the near future.
But of our 3 ancient rivals (Vandy, UK and UA), Alabama is the only one that has been and will be here for the long term. Even in years when one team or the other is rebuilding, the sheer weight of the history and tradition gives the game a charge the others can't match.
In fact, thinking about it, I've actually been kind've bummed about the game these last few years because we were saying, "Well, Bama is struggling but always dangerous in this game," rather than, "Both teams are good, and on the 3rd Saturday in October, who the HELL knows..."