6. Arkansas Razorbacks
All-time series: Tennessee leads 13-5
Years rivalry existed:
- 1992-2002 (Vols record: 9-2)
Yes, this is a new rivalry that is now defunct. It killed another rivalry, which we’ll get to later. However, the Arkansas Razorbacks were a huge part of the history that was written for Tennessee football from 1992 through 2002. It started in 1992, when they first joined the league, and the two schools were designated as SEC interdivisional annual rivals.
That year, Arkansas shocked a No. 4 ranked and 5-0 UT team by one point in Knoxville. That sparked a three-game losing streak that cost Johnny Majors his job. Peyton Manning’s breakout game came in 1995, when the Vols dominated the Hogs.
In the late 1990s, though, there were two games that told the story. UT came back from 21-3 to beat the Hogs when both teams were undefeated in November in 1998, and they cashed in on the infamous Clint Stoerner stumble and fumble to score a game-winning touchdown and win 28-24.
The next year, Arkansas cost the Vols a second straight national title by returning the favor with a 28-24 win just as Phillip Fulmer’s team had gotten up to No. 2 in the BCS again. Three years later, in the final game of the rivalry, the two played the longest game in Vol history, as Rocky Top won in six overtimes.
Even in games when this wasn’t a rivalry, the Vols had a legendary 14-13 Liberty Bowl win over them in 1971, they beat them 31-27 in the 1990 Cotton Bowl to finish the 1989 season 11-1 and in the top five. So these two schools have a history.