'This is a great rivalry': Josh Heupel weighs in on the future of the Tennessee-Alabama series

Josh Heupel is in favor of the Third Saturday in October rivalry between Tennessee and Alabama living on in the new-look Southeastern Conference, which next season will expand to 16 schools after adding Texas and Oklahoma.

The Vols will host Alabama next season while playing their first conference game against Oklahoma on the road, but the scheduling model in future seasons has not yet been officially announced. 

“Man, I think this is a great rivalry and it’s important to our fan base,” Heupel said during his press conference on Thursday. “I’m sure it’s important to their fan base too. And it’s one that is special. Just, it’s a unique, unique game and a unique setting. 

“So obviously I think the league, with everybody that’s coming in, there’s a lot of factors that go into it and how they schedule, certainly hope so.”

Nick Saban: ‘It means a lot … it’s a big game. It’s an important game’

No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) goes on the road to face No. 11 Alabama (6-1, 4-0) on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Vols won 52-49 at home last season, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide. 

The series dates back to a 6-6 tie in 1901 — Alabama holds a 58-39-7 lead in the rivalry — and has been played every season since 1944. 

Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about the rivalry on Sunday night, saying it meant a lot to him “because it means a lot to a lot of people.”

“It means a lot to a lot of people on our side,” Saban said, “it probably means a lot to a lot of people on their side. So it’s a big game. It’s an important game. They got a really good team and we’re trying to get our guys to play with a little more consistency, but I know what this game means to a lot of Alabama folks.”

Saban himself may have spoiled the news of the SEC’s future scheduling model earlier this month, when he mentioned the league using a format of one fixed rivalry opponent on each team’s schedule while the other seven games are rotational. 

“The way we’re gonna do our seven-team rotation, one-team fixed,” Saban said on Ocotber 12, “I think you’re gonna play everybody every four years, so almost every guy at your school is going to play every team in the conference. Which I think is great as well.”

First-year Auburn coach Hugh Freeze also mentioned the possibility of the 7-and-1 format three weeks ago, hinting that the Auburn-Georgia rivalry, known as The South’s Oldest Rivalry, may be going away.

“Obviously the conference realignment is happening within our conference and I’m pretty confident that the SEC is pretty solid on where we are,” Freeze said at the time. “I think they’ll enjoy the new rivalries when they get to see Texas and Oklahoma and among the great rivalries that we already have in our conference.

“I’ll miss playing Georgia every year because I just got to experience it for my first time and I loved every minute of it other than the outcome.”

No. 17 Tennessee at No. 11 Alabama, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Heupel got his first taste of the rivalry in 2021, losing 52-24 in Tuscaloosa. Tennessee trailed 31-24 early in the fourth quarter before Alabama closed with three straight touchdowns. 

Last season he became the first Tennessee coach to beat Alabama since Phillip Fulmer’s 2006 team won 16-13 at Neyland Stadium. 

“I just think the fanbase, this is one that’s circled,” Heupel said. “I’ve said multiple times, before I even got introduced at the press conference (as Tennessee’s new head coach), met a couple of former players, but donors too. This is a game that matters to everybody in this fanbase and it matters to us too. 

“It’s always had huge implications in your race to try to get to Atlanta as well. So this is a big football game for us. Huge test, really good football team. But it’ll be a great, great afternoon.”