From an outsider, who does Tennessee view as their rivals?

#102
#102
05_never_again said:
Tennessee is a little unique in that there isn't a consensus among our own fans who our biggest rival is, and none of the teams our fans would consider to be our biggest rival see Tennessee as their biggest rival. Conversely, we in no way consider Vandy and Kentucky to be big rivals but they both consider us to be their biggest rival.

It is also a generational thing. Most fans 55+ and under-25 would probably say our biggest rival is Alabama. A lot of people who came of age in the 90s and early 2000s would probably say Florida.
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We are also unique in the sense that nobody really claims us as a rival. Alabama, Florida and Georgia fans all hate us but they won't admit we are rivals
 
#104
#104
Bama and that garbage dump will always be at the top and then who cares after that
 
#107
#107
What makes Tennessee unique (besides Missouri) is that it borders 8 states and no major in-state program to compete against. Think most people would say Bama is the top rival but if you live on the Tenn/Ky border you may say Kentucky is up there, or if you live near or in Georgia it is the dawgs, etc. Know some vol fans in West TN who despise ole miss or especially in basketball Memphis. Can guarantee if Tennessee started to play Va Tech on a semi-regular basis then that would be to the tri-cities and sw va vol fans a huge rivalry. Then If you grow up in the 90s it was the Gators which meant championships if you beat them or growing up before then Auburn was pretty hated.

What I mean to say is that no other program creates so many different teams to hate and just makes beating them all so much fun!!
 
#108
#108
ENGRVOL said:
What makes Tennessee unique (besides Missouri) is that it borders 8 states and no major in-state program to compete against. Think most people would say Bama is the top rival but if you live on the Tenn/Ky border you may say Kentucky is up there, or if you live near or in Georgia it is the dawgs, etc. Know some vol fans in West TN who despise ole miss or especially in basketball Memphis. Can guarantee if Tennessee started to play Va Tech on a semi-regular basis then that would be to the tri-cities and sw va vol fans a huge rivalry. Then If you grow up in the 90s it was the Gators which meant championships if you beat them or growing up before then Auburn was pretty hated.

What I mean to say is that no other program creates so many different teams to hate and just makes beating them all so much fun!!
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I am that west tenn ut fan that does indeed despise ole piss. I am just old enough to remember Ole piss in the Liberty Bowl and the gumps at Legion. I went to the last TSIO in Legion. Great memories. I miss ole miss and auburn games a lot.
 
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#109
#109
05_never_again said:
Tennessee is a little unique in that there isn't a consensus among our own fans who our biggest rival is, and none of the teams our fans would consider to be our biggest rival see Tennessee as their biggest rival. Conversely, we in no way consider Vandy and Kentucky to be big rivals but they both consider us to be their biggest rival.

It is also a generational thing. Most fans 55+ and under-25 would probably say our biggest rival is Alabama. A lot of people who came of age in the 90s and early 2000s would probably say Florida.
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not true.
 
#110
#110
1. Bama in football and overall biggest rival
2. UK in basketball
3. Florida after Bama
 
#112
#112
dieseldaddy said:
There is no other answer. I hate bama the way cats hate water. We started the fight before anyone else even knew the were the enemy. We continue to fight the good fight for the good of college football. It was definitely high tide today. Drink in their suck. It will get through the hard times .
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1000 likes 👍

Most fans don’t realize Tennessee has beaten Alabama more than any other team.
We also hold the longest win streak against them.
Bear Bryant once said:
“People think I’m the greatest damn coach in the world, but Neyland taught me everything I know.”
 
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#114
#114
HeavenUniversity said:
A crazy hypothetical question from another outsider—if Memphis was brought into the SEC, after say 10-15 years, would they become a bigger rival than Vanderbilt? How do you think there football team would do after building the program up/increased revenue for 15 years? I am just assuming basketball would be very competitive from day one.
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Mizzou has been in the SEC since 2012 and we still don't think they belong here. It would take a lot longer than 15 years for Memphis to be considered a rival and it probably would never happen just due to their program not being anywhere on the same level as UT. Same reason I barely consider Vandy a rival.
 
#115
#115
We hate Florida mostly because of the so called curse. It is a given that we will forget how to play football against them, regardless of how bad they are. Way too many games we lost to them over the years we had no business losing. The frustration, anger and bitterness of having meltdowns against them every year, regardless of the coach, or talent levels results in deep hatred. Bama is the historical rival, but during the Saban years we never had a chance, so the anger over losing wasn’t as strong and they didn’t see us as a rival at all. Hopefully that is changing again. Georgia has dominated us during the Kirby years, but prior to that, we had their number and even upset them a few times with Richt so I have never seen them as a bitter rival. We don’t even think about Kentucky, Vandy or USC as we expect to beat them every year.
 
#116
#116
Vol865 said:
Mizzou has been in the SEC since 2012 and we still don't think they belong here. It would take a lot longer than 15 years for Memphis to be considered a rival and it probably would never happen just due to their program not being anywhere on the same level as UT. Same reason I barely consider Vandy a rival.
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Mizzou is the Sesame Street version of “which one of these things doesn’t belong with the others?” They are not a real SEC team, are boring, and nobody really cares or thinks about them at all.
 
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#117
#117
sigmundoooz said:
THE rival in football is Alabama. Don't forget when the same question was posed to Nick Saban about Alabama, he said the Alabama players say Tennessee even over Auburn.
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Going all the way back to Bear Bryant and Johnny Majors, and before them, Neyland and Wallace Wade. "You never knew what kind of team you had until you played Alabama [or, conversely, Tennessee]."
 
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#120
#120
Vandy and Bama. Every other team falls in line behind those two for me. In the second tier, it's UGA then UF.
 
#121
#121
Alabama is our biggest rival but for me and many other Florida is our most hated rival. Vandy and Kentucky are traditional rivals too.
 
#122
#122
everybody hates us and the feeling is mutual. Alabama is the only Rival I consider, it has the cigar smoking tradition for the victor. We have no trophies we play for, we used to play Kentucky for a beer barrel but they never really won it. It got taken away when some folks died drinking and driving.
 
#123
#123
Alabama and Florida would be my choice. Wish we played Florida last game of year and made it a tradition.
 
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