The Tennessee Vols and the Alabama Crimson Tide will meet in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night for the latest installment of the historic Third Saturday in October rivalry.

Tennessee has won two of the last three meetings against Alabama, but the Vols haven’t won in Tuscaloosa since 2003.

UT is 0-2 in Tuscaloosa under Josh Heupel, losing 52-24 in 2021 and 34-20 in 2023.

ESPN’s Rece Davis predicts who will win the Tennessee vs Alabama matchup

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis made his pick for the Tennessee vs. Alabama showdown on the College GameDay podcast on Wednesday.

Davis, who graduated from Alabama in the late 1980s, picked the Crimson Tide to beat the Vols on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Podcast co-host Pete Thamel, a college football reporter for ESPN, also picked Alabama to beat Tennessee.

“I’m going to take Alabama, too,” said Davis. “I think this is going to be a wild, high-scoring game. Alabama still hasn’t solved all of its problems in rush defense. Though they did a really good job against Ahmad Hardy, they still gave up some chunk plays against Missouri. Alabama’s pass defense has been very good. And I’m going to tell you, this freshman, Dijon Lee, [he’s] long and he’s got NFL written all over him in a couple of years. He’s been terrific, and he will be challenged by the downfield passing attack that Tennessee has.

“I think Alabama gets Ryan Williams going. I think they get Germie Bernard going, because I think Tennessee likes to challenge and play a little bit of man (coverage). The big deal is going to be, can [Tennessee] get pressure on Ty Simpson? If they can, and if they can force some mistakes, which he has not been prone to do, it will help the Vols’ cause greatly. But I’m going to go with Alabama, at home, winning the game.”

Most of the national media seems to be rolling with the Tide in this one.

And hey, that makes sense — Tennessee hasn’t won in Bryant-Denny Stadium since 50 Cent was ruling the charts with a song about drinking Bacardi on your birthday.

But every streak ends at some point. And everyone in Tennessee’s locker room believes the losing streak in Tuscaloosa will end on Saturday night.

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