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Tennessee football has played Alabama 10 other times with both teams in top 10

By Caleb Calhoun

Oct 23, 1999; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jamal Lewis (31) leaping into the end zone against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 1999; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jamal Lewis (31) leaping into the end zone against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof
Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof /

0. 829. 12. 839. Final

Oct. 19, 1946

It was a year after World War II. Robert Neyland had returned for the first year of his third stint, six years removed from the last time he coached Tennessee football during a period everybody would call the golden years of the program. John Barnhill did a pretty good job keeping the program afloat without Neyland, never losing more than two games.

In fact, Barnhill had only lost more than one game once, his first year in 1941. However, he never beat Alabama, tying them in 1944 and losing them in 1941, 1942 and 1945, the latter two being UT’s only losses that year. Neither fielded a team in 1943.

Anyway, the Vols came into this game 3-0 and ranked No. 9. Alabama, meanwhile, was in its 16th year under legendary head coach Frank Thomas and had roared off to a 4-0 start to get to No. 6 in the nation. As a result, a top 10 matchup between two undefeated teams was underway.

Well, the Vols dominated in a typical Neyland way, winning 12-0. That win propelled them to a 9-1 regular season, their only blemish an upset loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and a split SEC Championship with the Georgia Bulldogs. Alabama stumbled to 7-4, and then Thomas retired, thus beginning a slow descent under Harold Drew.

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