Tennessee and Alabama are both 5-1 going into this year’s Third Saturday in October matchup.

But despite the identical records, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks the pressure is on one team.

Alabama.

The Crimson Tide entered the season with higher expectations than the Volunteers. If Alabama loses to Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday, their College Football Playoff hopes will be on life support.

“Alabama now has some real pressure for the first time,” said Finebaum on The Matt Barrie Show. “And I’m not going to over dramatize this weekend in Knoxville because we’ve kind of forgotten about this game a little bit as we get ready for so many others — there’s been so many other big games. But Tennessee, I don’t even know how to describe them. They’re hard to watch, but they have won some really important games. And winning at Arkansas doesn’t sound like much because everybody wins at Arkansas. Everyone but Tennessee.

“The rivalry game probably means a little more to Tennessee right now because Alabama has just gotten through its so-called biggest game of the year (against Georgia), and they have LSU later on. But if for whatever reason Tennessee pulls an upset here, suddenly Alabama’s season looks a lot different.”

Finebaum is right. If Alabama loses to Tennessee, they’ll essentially have to win out to reach the playoff.

The same is true for Tennessee, but no one had the Vols pegged for a spot in the playoff before the season. If Tennessee finishes 9-3 in the regular season with a pair of first-time starting quarterbacks, everyone in the national media will be saying the Vols overachieved (and Tennessee will have some real momentum going into the 2027 season).

This is obviously a game the Vols badly want to win — Tennessee is looking for its third straight win over Alabama in Knoxville for the first time since 1996-2000 — but the Crimson Tide absolutely have more on the line in this matchup.