Tennessee football: Vols-Gators isn’t a close rivalry and never has been

Tennessee football drops another game to the Florida Gators on Saturday night. It got us thinking this “rivalry” isn’t even close.

Buckle up for another rocky season on Rocky Top. The expectations for the 2018 Tennessee football season weren’t necessarily high. How could they be? It’s Jeremy Pruitt’s first season as a head coach and it just so happens he took over a team coming off the worst season in program history.

Oh, and he is coaching in the SEC, without a doubt the best conference in college football. But, to say you foresaw the worst loss to the Gators since 2007, you’d be lying. Not to mention to a Gators team that isn’t even good.

The Vols showed me all I needed to see in determining how the remainder of this season is going to play out. They won’t win a single SEC game for the second straight season. They also revealed something I failed to realize my entire life. Tennessee-Florida isn’t a rivalry game. Vol fans have manipulated themselves into believing it is, but the truth is, it never has been.

So what, a few games have been close against the weakest Florida teams in the history of their program, Tennessee only won once. The Gators own the Vols, and I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve turned a blind eye to something so obvious.

Tennessee started the series with a ten game winning streak, but since then it’s been utterly atrocious and outright embarrassing for the Tennessee program. Before I prove my statement right, I will point out the best stretch the Vols have had in this “rivalry game.” From 1998-2004, Tennessee won four out of the seven games. That is certainly nothing to brag about since Florida has recently rolled off an 11-game winning streak from 2005-2015.

Here is what the “rivalry” looks like the past 30 years:

Past 5 games: 1-4
Past 10 games: 1-9
Past 15 games: 2-13
Past 20 games: 4-16
Past 25 games: 5-20
Past 30 games: 7-23

I hate to be the one to break it to Volnation. I’m not trying to pour gasoline on the fire, but those numbers should speak for themselves. One thing I’ve always heard about Vanderbilt is they are only a rival because they are in the state of Tennessee. But, the truth is Vanderbilt has as much success if not more against the Vols than Tennessee has against Florida. Here is how Vanderbilt has fared against Tennessee.

Past 5 games: 3-2
Past 10 games: 4-6
Past 15 games: 5-10

The numbers show Vanderbilt has had more success against the Vols than Tennessee has had against Florida. In the last five games, Vanderbilt has a winning record against the Vols. Here’s another comparison that will hopefully bring you back to reality. Kentucky is in the same boat as Vanderbilt. The Wildcats have had an equal amount of success against Vols as Tennessee has had against Florida.

Past 5 games: 1-4
Past 10 games: 2-8
Past 15 games: 2-13

Do Tennessee fans consider Vanderbilt and Kentucky rivals? I’ll answer that; most laugh at the thought when you’re talking about football. But, again the numbers show it’s close to the same comparison across the board. But, hey let’s continue to pretend Tennessee is on the same level as Florida. Let’s proceed to get pumped up each summer for a season of disappointment and failure.

Again, I’m not harping on Volnation for caring and pouring their hearts into the Tennessee football program,; this post is for me too. It’s time for us to wake up and realize Florida owns Tennessee and always will. It’s never been a close rivalry, and until the Vols can provide evidence of change, it never will be.