Paul Finebaum: 'There is everything on the line' in Third Saturday in October rivalry game

The Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers are getting ready for the Third Saturday in October and their storied rivalry game. It’s a game that Paul Finebaum believes is going to be vital for how the season shakes out.

Finebaum explained that everything is on the line in this game when he made an appearance on SportsCenter, where he explained he was ‘Paul-in’ on the importance of this game.

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“I am so Paul in on this that I can’t even breathe right now,” Finebaum said. “This is such an important game. It always is. Everybody knows about the third Saturday in October but there is everything on the line.”

Both Alabama and Tennessee lost in Week 6 to SEC opponents who they were expected to beat. They then followed that up by struggling in close games the next week as well. In that way, the two have mirrored each other and find themselves in a similar position moving into their game against one another.

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“Let’s say Tennessee loses this game. That would be two losses. They have Georgia later in the year in Athens. Okay, let’s move Tennessee off the board,” Finebaum said. “What about Alabama? Alabama has looked so poor the last two weeks I can’t even believe we’re talking about them as a Playoff team but we are. A loss by Alabama, that’s two losses, and they still have to go to LSU, they have Missouri at home, and then they go to Oklahoma. That LSU game will be their undoing if they can’t beat Tennessee.”

The SEC is currently up for grabs. Nine teams either haven’t lost or only have one loss in conference play to this point. That means that finding a way to stay in that pack and in that race is going to be vital. Otherwise, it’s an uphill battle to make the SEC Championship Game and compete for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.

In recent seasons, the game between Alabama and Tennessee has become one of the most important games of the season in SEC play. Last season, the Crimson Tide won in Tuscaloosa, helping to propel them to the SEC Championship. The year before that, Tennessee upset Alabama in an instant classic game. At the time, that win snapped a 15-game winning streak in the series for the Crimson Tide.

Tennessee and Alabama will kickoff at Neyland Stadium at 3:30 p.m. EST on October 19th.