In four weeks the future of the Bama-Tennessee game will be determined...

[BGHarper]

The conference powers that be will decided in Destin in late May the future of the series and the Auburn-Georgia game.

Quote from Slive yesterday, "We're looking at eight games with or without permanents, nine games with or without permanents and maybe one off-shoot of that."

Saban is on record favoring an 9 game SEC schedule that would allow our annual series to continue, but as of last season Bama was either the only school favoring the 9 game schedule, or at the least, one of the very few.

What is UT's position on the nine game SEC schedule?

What is your personal opinion? Should the annual series continue? Do you care?

As I've said, I'm a traditionalist and this conference was virtually built on the back of this series. For decades it was THE series in the SEC. I'll say it again, Bryant and Neyland will roll over in the grave if this annual series is done away with. Your opinions please.


BG

[Black Diamond Vol]

I'm in favor of continuing the annual rivalry, but I have a feeling that we'll be outvoted.   It seems that outside of the four programs in question, no one else seems to care.  And whether it's now or in the future, the league will go to a nine game schedule.  The SECN is going to demand it (no one is going to want to watch games like MSU/Prairie View every week), and SOS will probably come into play with the new playoff.

[HerbTarlekVol]

Just don't see how the series can be continued unless everybody plays everybody, which of course isn't an option.  To be equitable (won't use the word fair, because no scheduled is equally fair to every school every year) we need to go to a true rotating schedule for schools in the opposite division.   

[Volznut]

I don't mind, do what needs to be done. I'm not big on traditions anyway

[BGHarper]

I'm in favor of continuing the annual rivalry, but I have a feeling that we'll be outvoted.   It seems that outside of the four programs in question, no one else seems to care.  And whether it's now or in the future, the league will go to a nine game schedule.  The SECN is going to demand it (no one is going to want to watch games like MSU/Prairie View every week), and SOS will probably come into play with the new playoff.

I hate this, BDV. This is my favorite series. I'm into the history of this conference and the traditions that made it so special. There is nothing as "traditional" in the SEC as the great Crimson Tide-Volunteer series. While Auburn-Georgia is an older series, it never carried the attention of all SEC fans, and national fans in general, as the Tide-UT game in the formative years of the conference. I love this series so much, and that's why I post here and why I posted as one of the first members of Grid's Volchat (now Scout's UT site)  in the early nineties. He was good to me as the entire board was, and actually welcomed my post. Again, I just hate this!


BG

[Clockwork Orange]

I don't mind, do what needs to be done. I'm not big on traditions anyway

I'm starting to think I'll come around to this at some point. Right now it's hard to imagine no Bammer game, but honestly with the coaching carousels, expansion, etc. it doesn't feel like the same SEC anymore anyway.

[Be-the-Vol]

Count me as "No" vote for playing that red team in the future.   

[BGHarper]

Count me as "No" vote for playing that red team in the future.   

Ok, but why?


BG

[Black Diamond Vol]

If some programs don't care about traditional rivalries, then let's put that to the test.  Let's just drop divisional play and rotate all 14 teams equally through each other's schedule.  That would mean that in some years, we'd lose the Iron Bowl.  Or the WLOCP.  Or the Egg Bowl.  I would bet that those schools wouldn't be so keen on THAT idea.

They don't care about anyone else's traditional rivalries, but when THEIR rivalries are threatened, they'll sing a different tune.

[VinnieVOL]

I'm starting to think I'll come around to this at some point. Right now it's hard to imagine no Bammer game, but honestly with the coaching carousels, expansion, etc. it doesn't feel like the same SEC anymore anyway.

Yeah, I feel like I've been beaten down so much as a fan this past decade that things like this don't really even upset me.  In truth, I think that I've tried to detach myself emotionally to keep from getting hurt.  Dooley made it easier to detach, too.

[Be-the-Vol]

Ok, but why?


BG

Besides the fact that I despise everything about the red team, conferences mean absolutely nothing.  They only exist to shovel as much money into the member schools’ coffers as possible.  I’m not against that at all, but to pretend that there’s conference loyalty, and that there is any tradition to them is silly IMO.  The movement of teams from one conference to another shows that conferences don’t mean a thing – it’s all about the money.  Plus, I despise everything about the red team.

[BGHarper]

If some programs don't care about traditional rivalries, then let's put that to the test.  Let's just drop divisional play and rotate all 14 teams equally through each other's schedule.  That would mean that in some years, we'd lose the Iron Bowl.  Or the WLOCP.  Or the Egg Bowl.  I would bet that those schools wouldn't be so keen on THAT idea.

They don't care about anyone else's traditional rivalries, but when THEIR rivalries are threatened, they'll sing a different tune.

Yep, and the those traditional games are what make the conference so special. Those are the match-ups that for me are all must see games every season.


BG

[Tnphil]

Hope it happens......When USCe , GA and Florida play Bama every year then fine......Until then we are on a different playing field.

[Creek Walker]

It's inevitable, and I absolutely hate it. In my "formative years," coming of age as a Tennessee football fan, I can tell you every play of every Tennessee-Alabama game, because each of them are forever seared into my mind. Because the Alabama game was IT.

1990 - Tennessee lining up for the game-winning FG, having it blocked, and Alabama winning on a FG of their own.
1991 - Tennessee falling behind 24-6 before Andy Kelly engineered a 4th quarter comeback that included two TDs and UT getting the ball back before a late INT sealed it.
1992 - A really stout Alabama D holding UT out of the end zone before a touchdown pass from Shuler to David Horn in the back of the end zone cut it to 17-10, but UT just didn't get another chance.
1993 - Having it in the bag before freakin' David Palmer ruined the day.
1994 - Peyton's unfortunate 4th down incompletion on the goal line after missing a wide open receiver . . . and Brandon Stewart's mom standing and cheering.
1995 - Pure bliss.
1996 - Leonard Little vs. Freddie Kitchens. And Jay Graham's run.

It didn't matter if every other game of the season was overlooked, there was something special about the 3rd Saturday in October. The fall foliage was usually at its peak in East Tennessee, the afternoons were crisp and refreshing, and I listened to John Ward and Bill Anderson call many of those games sprawled out in my grandparents' living room eating apples from the trees out back, or playing football in the front yard trying to mimic the action. I was Chuck Webb or Tony Thompson or Andy Kelly, and the big oak tree at the end of the yard was the goal line. In '91, I was 12 years old and helping my grandmother with her crafts booth at a steam train festival here locally. The Autumn Leaf Special made the trip from Chattanooga to Oneida with 800 passengers aboard. I had my Walkman, listening to the game. Person after person stopped by my grandma's booth to ask me the score. At the time I wondered how they knew I was listening to the game. Years later, I realized that it was pretty obvious...it was the 3rd Saturday in October, and I was a 12-year-old with a pair of headphones on in East Tennessee. What else would I be listening to but the UT/Bama game? I was crushed that day when Kelly threw the INT at the end. He was my hero.

I hate it. I absolutely hate it.

[Inspector Vol]

If some programs don't care about traditional rivalries, then let's put that to the test.  Let's just drop divisional play and rotate all 14 teams equally through each other's schedule.  That would mean that in some years, we'd lose the Iron Bowl.  Or the WLOCP.  Or the Egg Bowl.  I would bet that those schools wouldn't be so keen on THAT idea.

They don't care about anyone else's traditional rivalries, but when THEIR rivalries are threatened, they'll sing a different tune.

This is 100% on the money.

 Slive will ruin this league chasing a dollar.

[BGHarper]

Hope it happens......When USCe , GA and Florida play Bama every year then fine......Until then we are on a different playing field.

Hate to do this,but here I have Auburn it's due. Until conference expansion, they played Georgia and Florida ever year. In fact ended their SEC schedule with Florida, Georgia and Alabama every season. When the conference took away their Florida game, they were not happy and had fought hard to keep it for tradition sake.


BG

[BGHarper]

It's inevitable, and I absolutely hate it. In my "formative years," coming of age as a Tennessee football fan, I can tell you every play of every Tennessee-Alabama game, because each of them are forever seared into my mind. Because the Alabama game was IT.

1990 - Tennessee lining up for the game-winning FG, having it blocked, and Alabama winning on a FG of their own.
1991 - Tennessee falling behind 24-6 before Andy Kelly engineered a 4th quarter comeback that included two TDs and UT getting the ball back before a late INT sealed it.
1992 - A really stout Alabama D holding UT out of the end zone before a touchdown pass from Shuler to David Horn in the back of the end zone cut it to 17-10, but UT just didn't get another chance.
1993 - Having it in the bag before freakin' David Palmer ruined the day.
1994 - Peyton's unfortunate 4th down incompletion on the goal line after missing a wide open receiver . . . and Brandon Stewart's mom standing and cheering.
1995 - Pure bliss.
1996 - Leonard Little vs. Freddie Kitchens. And Jay Graham's run.

It didn't matter if every other game of the season was overlooked, there was something special about the 3rd Saturday in October. The fall foliage was usually at its peak in East Tennessee, the afternoons were crisp and refreshing, and I listened to John Ward and Bill Anderson call many of those games sprawled out in my grandparents' living room eating apples from the trees out back, or playing football in the front yard trying to mimic the action. I was Chuck Webb or Tony Thompson or Andy Kelly, and the big oak tree at the end of the yard was the goal line. In '91, I was 12 years old and helping my grandmother with her crafts booth at a steam train festival here locally. The Autumn Leaf Special made the trip from Chattanooga to Oneida with 800 passengers aboard. I had my Walkman, listening to the game. Person after person stopped by my grandma's booth to ask me the score. At the time I wondered how they knew I was listening to the game. Years later, I realized that it was pretty obvious...it was the 3rd Saturday in October, and I was a 12-year-old with a pair of headphones on in East Tennessee. What else would I be listening to but the UT/Bama game? I was crushed that day when Kelly threw the INT at the end. He was my hero.

I hate it. I absolutely hate it.

Great post, CW! Couldn't agree more. I have those same type of memories and they are all so special.


BG

[PirateVOL]

Great post, CW! Couldn't agree more. I have those same type of memories and they are all so special.


BG

bg none of us held a candle compared to Celtic

[BGHarper]

bg none of us held a candle compared to Celtic

I spent hours, and I mean really hours, talking Bama-UT with Celtic. Well, not so much me talking, but me listening and soaking up every word and story he told. Just loved the guy.


BG

[volsboy]

I want the Alabama game every year. But I don't see it continuing for long. Next best thing is to have a true rotating schedule. Only question is how often will the rotation occur?

[murfvol]

Keep UT/Bama and UGA/AU. Let the others rotate as they wish, but tradition is key.

[VinnieVOL]

It's inevitable, and I absolutely hate it. In my "formative years," coming of age as a Tennessee football fan, I can tell you every play of every Tennessee-Alabama game, because each of them are forever seared into my mind. Because the Alabama game was IT.

1990 - Tennessee lining up for the game-winning FG, having it blocked, and Alabama winning on a FG of their own.
1991 - Tennessee falling behind 24-6 before Andy Kelly engineered a 4th quarter comeback that included two TDs and UT getting the ball back before a late INT sealed it.
1992 - A really stout Alabama D holding UT out of the end zone before a touchdown pass from Shuler to David Horn in the back of the end zone cut it to 17-10, but UT just didn't get another chance.
1993 - Having it in the bag before freakin' David Palmer ruined the day.
1994 - Peyton's unfortunate 4th down incompletion on the goal line after missing a wide open receiver . . . and Brandon Stewart's mom standing and cheering.
1995 - Pure bliss.
1996 - Leonard Little vs. Freddie Kitchens. And Jay Graham's run.

It didn't matter if every other game of the season was overlooked, there was something special about the 3rd Saturday in October. The fall foliage was usually at its peak in East Tennessee, the afternoons were crisp and refreshing, and I listened to John Ward and Bill Anderson call many of those games sprawled out in my grandparents' living room eating apples from the trees out back, or playing football in the front yard trying to mimic the action. I was Chuck Webb or Tony Thompson or Andy Kelly, and the big oak tree at the end of the yard was the goal line. In '91, I was 12 years old and helping my grandmother with her crafts booth at a steam train festival here locally. The Autumn Leaf Special made the trip from Chattanooga to Oneida with 800 passengers aboard. I had my Walkman, listening to the game. Person after person stopped by my grandma's booth to ask me the score. At the time I wondered how they knew I was listening to the game. Years later, I realized that it was pretty obvious...it was the 3rd Saturday in October, and I was a 12-year-old with a pair of headphones on in East Tennessee. What else would I be listening to but the UT/Bama game? I was crushed that day when Kelly threw the INT at the end. He was my hero.

I hate it. I absolutely hate it.

That's good stuff right there.

[BGHarper]

That's good stuff right there.

Isn't it! Great post by CW! Vinnie, I wish your dad posted here. I bet he's got all kinds of great stories about this series. 

Also, you would have really liked CelticVol. His dad played for Tennessee, and he has been to the Alabama-Tennessee game since the 1940's in both Knoxville and B'ham/T-town. He was an ex-Marine Colonial and what a classy guy!!! I've read that UT asked him to speak to the team just a few years ago before the game.


BG

[Jean Voljean]

A few years ago I made a conscious decision to pay a lot less attention to UT sports due to some new major life obligations (kids and a pretty demanding job).  So I pretty much suck as a fan anyway these days.  But still I feel like the college football I fell in love with so many years ago is leaving me anyway.  I long for the old days.  I was even one of the few people who liked the old bowl arrangements.  That the SEC could decide to strip away our biggest rivalry because it is inconvenient for superconference play that I never saw the need for in the first place just goes right along with almost every other change as colleges chase the entertainment dollars in order to fund the chase of the entertainment dollars.

Cancel the Alabama series?  I taught my long departed dog to bark and growl whenever someone said, "Bama!"  That game was always a big deal even to my dog.  It's one of the few that still at least mean something other than a W or L and a check to see how that impacted the computer rankings.

Bama sucks.  Cancelling Bama sucks more.

[HerbTarlekVol]

Nobody would be cancelling anything.  Every SEC team will still be playing each other, just some not as often as others or as often as they used to play.  Unfortunately that's just the price of expansion and of the popularity of the SEC, and the financial rewards that go along with it.

I don't like it any more than most do, but honestly, since the series was moved from Legion Field to Tuscaloosa every other year it doesn't have the same appeal to me that it once did.