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Tennessee football: 10 years Vols beat Alabama but not Kentucky

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – OCTOBER 26: Tennessee Volunteers fans celebrate the team making a first down against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the third quarter at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – OCTOBER 26: Tennessee Volunteers fans celebrate the team making a first down against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the third quarter at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /

The Tennessee football Volunteers almost never beat the Crimson Tide while losing to the Wildcats.

When the Alabama Crimson Tide visit Rocky Top on Saturday, Tennessee football will attempt to do something it has rarely done throughout history. The Vols will be looking to beat Alabama despite losing to the Kentucky Wildcats in the same season.

This year marks the 100th time the Vols will play both in the same season. Usually, if a loss to Kentucky happens, a loss to Alabama is certain to follow. After all, UT almost always beats Kentucky, and in recent years, they almost always lose to Alabama. They are more likely to beat or lose to both teams than they are to beat Alabama and lose to Kentucky.

In fact, Tennessee football has had more seasons in history where it played Kentucky and not Alabama, played Alabama and not Kentucky or played neither school than it has beaten Alabama and lost to Kentucky. This gives you a sense of how rare it is.

Well, let’s look back on those few times it happened. In this post, we’re going back on all the seasons the Vols beat Alabama and lost to Kentucky. To qualify for this list, the Vols have to have played both teams in the same season.

For instance, in 1904, UT beat Alabama but did not play Kentucky. Times UT tied Alabama but lost to Kentucky also don’t count. Those include 1953 and 1959. UT began playing Kentucky regularly in 1906 and Alabama in 1928. We’ll list these seasons in the order of which they happened, from the earliest to the most recent.

Surprisingly, there are a few seasons on here that Vol fans would love to replicate. They were definitely better than what is expected of this year’s team, and a few of them happened during one of the program’s best runs in its history.

When were these runs? Does that give Jeremy Pruitt’s program any hope for Saturday? Let’s go ahead and break that down here. These are the 10 seasons Tennessee football beat Alabama but not Kentucky.

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