For the last 10 or so years, we've spent a lot of time talking about Tennessee Vols football being "back".

While having those conversations about whether or not Tennessee is back, there's one thought that's always crept into my mind — what does being back actually look like?

In the 90s and the early 2000s, when UT football was at its best, the Vols were a consistent fixture in the top 10 or top 15. And they were generally in the national championship conversation in most years (to some extent).

If that was Tennessee football at its best, then shouldn't what we're seeing from the Vols this season qualify as being back?

I think it does. And it's ok to say that.

On Saturday, No. 6 Tennessee will take on No. 3 Alabama in a game that has College Football Playoff implications.

The winner of this game could suffer at least one loss the rest of the season and stand a pretty good chance of making the four-team playoff.

The loser would likely need to win out to reach the playoff.

If you're a Tennessee fan who has suffered through irrelevance over the last 15 years, this is the type of game you've been desperately waiting for. This is what you've dreamed about when the Vols were finishing a season with a loss to Vanderbilt or when Tennessee was inexplicably losing games to teams like Georgia State.

Sure, the Vols still have a lot of work to do — Tennessee's talent isn't on par across the board with Alabama's talent or Georgia's talent.

But the Vols are in the conversation. They're playing in the biggest game in college football this weekend.

Tennessee fans have to enjoy this — regardless of what happens. Because this is what you've been waiting for all these years.

And it doesn't really matter if the Vols win or lose on Saturday. The truth is that when Alabama and Tennessee are both playing at a high level, this is a series that's going to be back and forth. A loss by either team when both are ranked inside the top 10 (which has rarely happened by the way) isn't an indictment of the losing team. That's just college football. When two good teams play, someone has to lose.

There is no more waiting on Tennessee football to be relevant again. It's here (by the way, if the Vols beat Alabama, they'll be in the top five for the first time since the start of the 2005 season).

Embrace it. Have fun with it. After years of moving in the wrong direction, the Vols are finally at the front of the race with the rest of the elite teams in college football.

And based on what I've seen from Josh Heupel during his first 18 games as Tennessee's head coach, this isn't a fleeting moment for the Volunteers.

Nope, this is the new normal.

Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK