Why the Tennessee Vols' matchup with the Florida Gators this season just got a lot more interesting
The Tennessee Vols' football rivalry with the Florida Gators doesn't need any help being intense — it's already a hot-blooded affair when those two programs meet on a fall Saturday. But the rivalry got some added fuel this weekend thanks to the Tennessee baseball team. After the Vols' swept Florida in Gainesville this weekend, a […]
The Tennessee Vols' football rivalry with the Florida Gators doesn't need any help being intense — it's already a hot-blooded affair when those two programs meet on a fall Saturday.
But the rivalry got some added fuel this weekend thanks to the Tennessee baseball team.
After the Vols' swept Florida in Gainesville this weekend, a couple of UT players found some Florida helmets and sported them in an Instagram story, seemingly mocking the Gators.
Florida players weren't fans of this move from the Vols.
Gators linebacker Chief Borders quoted a tweet that showed the UT players in Florida helmets and wrote "You reap what you sow".
Borders has since deleted the tweet.
Tennessee has only beat Florida once since the 2004 season (with that win coming in 2016 under then Vols head coach Butch Jones).
UT, however, should have a good shot at beating the Gators in 2022. The matchup between Florida and Tennessee will take place in Knoxville. And the Gators are going through a major transition after firing Dan Mullen as the program's head coach and hiring Billy Napier (who was the head coach at Louisiana before leaving for The Swamp).
Tennessee's had several chances to beat a "down" Florida program over the last decade but they've only managed to come through on one occasion. If the Vols are going to return to the top of the SEC East, they have to start taking advantage of non-elite Florida teams.
I don't think Tennessee's baseball team mocking the Gators will have an impact on the game, but it'll still be an interesting storyline as we approach the 2022 season.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
