In 1991 we played ranked teams 5 consecutive weeks. Beat No. 21 UCLA 30-16 on a sweltering hot day in Neyland (maybe the single loudest moment in the stadium's history before the upper bowl was completed in '97 was Tracy Smith's 38-yard pick-six in that game). Then came back with a 26-24 win over No. 23 Mississippi State. Beat No. 13 Auburn 30-21. Lost to No. 10 Florida 35-18. Then to No. 14 Alabama 24-19 (we were down 24-3 in that one as I recall, came back and had the ball with an opportunity to win it at the end but Andy Kelly threw an INT). Finally got an unranked opponent in Memphis State, and won that one 52-24. Then the Miracle at South Bend against No. 5 Notre Dame, 35-34. Six ranked opponents in seven games. That may have been the toughest stretch ever for a Tennessee team.
The 1990 schedule was extremely tough, too. There were "only" 5 ranked teams on the schedule that year, but 4 of the 5 were Top 10 teams. Tied Colorado, which was No. 5 at the time and would go on to win the national championship. Tied Auburn, which was No. 3 at the time. Walloped Florida, which was No. 9 at the time, 45-3. Then lost to Notre Dame, which was No. 1 at the time, 34-29. Came back the next week and beat Ole Miss, which was No. 15, 22-13. That was the year we lost to unranked Alabama, 9-6, after they blocked a game-winning FG and turned it into their own game-winning FG. Majors lost to Alabama a lot when he shouldn't have, but that was definitely the worst.