8. Sewanee Tigers
All-time series: Tennessee leads 12-10
Years rivalry existed:
- 1902-1906 (Vols record: 1-4)
It was not as competitive as the one with the Clemson Tigers and not as long as the one with the LSU Tigers. However, Tennessee football had an in-state rivalry with this Tigers team, the Sewanee Tigers, and it lasted sporadically even after this consecutive run at the turn of the century. As a result, it’s a bit higher on the list.
Although Sewanee and the Vanderbilt Commodores was the peak in-state rivalry at this time and UT’s peak rivalry was with the Kentucky Wildcats, UT and Sewanee had a bit of a thing. After all, Sewanee was their first opponent ever as a football program in 1891, and they met again twice in 1892. The Tigers won all three.
The next time these two teams would face each other would be 1899, after the Spanish American War cancelation of 1899, and Sewanee won again. When this became an annual rivalry in 1902 for five years, the Vols finally got the better of the Tigers, winning that first year under head coach Hubert Fisher. However, Sewanee won the next four.
After that, the rivalry ended, but they met sporadically into the 1930s as SIAA, Southern Conference and eventually SEC members. Sewanee won two more games in 1912 and 1913. After that, though, the Vols never lost to them again, winning 11 straight into 1939 before the program gave up football. It became pretty clear which program owns the state by that point.