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Tennessee football’s 10 wins vs. Georgia with both teams ranked

By Caleb Calhoun

ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 1: Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers rides the shoulders of Gavin Bryant #36 after making the game winning catch against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 1: Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers rides the shoulders of Gavin Bryant #36 after making the game winning catch against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee defenders, including Jonathan Hefney (33), Antonio Reynolds (89) and Antwan Stewart (24), celebrate a tackle of Georgia return man Mikey Henderson during the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA on October 7, 2006. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
Tennessee defenders, including Jonathan Hefney (33), Antonio Reynolds (89) and Antwan Stewart (24), celebrate a tackle of Georgia return man Mikey Henderson during the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA on October 7, 2006. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

The Tennessee football Volunteers beat the Bulldogs 10 times when both teams were ranked.

While Saturday marks the 10th time in history Tennessee football faces the Georgia Bulldogs with both teams undefeated, it marks the 16th time these two will face off with both teams in the top 25. Jeremy Pruitt’s team is ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll, and Kirby Smart’s team is ranked No. 3 in both polls.

When that happens, history significantly favors the Vols. As we wrote on Thursday, UT is 5-3-1 against UGA when both teams are undefeated. Well, when both of them are ranked and they face off, Rocky Top is 10-5. For good measure, they’re 2-1 when both teams are undefeated and ranked while facing off.

Among these 15 games, there was a 10-year period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s in which Tennessee football and Georgia were both ranked in nine of the games. Those created some of the most memorable outcomes. Only one time since that run have both teams been ranked while facing each other.

In this post, we’re going to rank the wins the Vols have enjoyed over the Bulldogs with both teams ranked. Our rankings will be based on the thrill of the win itself, how highly ranked UGA was at the time and what it meant for the season.

Georgia’s five wins occurred in 1988, which was the season-opener for both teams and saw UT stumble to an 0-6 start, 2000, which ended their nine-game losing streak to the Vols, 2002, when the Vols had 16 starters hurt, 2003, which was the Sean Jones halftime fumble return, and 2005, which began the downward spiral of a UT team that fell to 5-6. All of those had major impacts.

But what about Big Orange Country? How thrilling were their wins over the Dawgs in this situation? Let’s go ahead and break all of that down here. This is our ranking of Tennessee football’s 10 victories over the Georgia Bulldogs when both teams were ranked.

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