Tennessee football: Vols top 10 now defunct rivalries in history

10. LSU Tigers

All-time series: Tennessee leads 20-10-3

Years rivalry existed:

• 1938-1944 (Vols record: 6-0)

Yes, believe it or not, there was a period in which Tennessee football and the LSU Tigers played each other annually. And it came during the golden years of Rocky Top, the peak of Robert Neyland’s second stint into the John Barnhill tenure during World War II.

Of course, as you can see by the record, this wasn’t much of a rivalry. UT dominated LSU during this time, winning all six games they met. Yes, it was six games over a seven-year period, but the Vols did not field a team in 1943 due to the war. That’s why we still consider it six consecutive seasons, enough to make this technically a rivalry.

LSU was homecoming for the Vols in 1938, their first SEC and national championship season and first bowl season. Oh, and it was their last undefeated season until 1998. They won that game 14-6. The next year, they shut out a No. 18 ranked Tigers team 20-0 in Baton Rouge, and they followed up by beating them again for homecoming 28-0.

This series is far more famous for games that were played after the rivalry, as the Vols ruined a championship season by upsetting LSU in 1959, and LSU returned the favor by upsetting the Vols in 2001. You also have the post-Hurricanes Katrina and Rita game in 2005 and the Jamarcus Russell game-winner in 2006. But before all of that, there was a mini-rivalry here.