No. 6 Alabama Crimson-Tide hosts No. 11 Tennessee Volunteeers Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban thinks the rivalry deserves far more attention than it gets. Both teams enter 5-1, with Alabama perfect in SEC play at 3-0 while Tennessee sits 2-1 in conference action.
Saban shared his thoughts on ESPN's College GameDay about the rivalry's importance.
“I actually think that having been in Alabama, everybody always talks about the Iron Bowl. But really, the big game for a lot of our fans and players was the Alabama-Tennessee game,” Saban said in a clip shared by The Pat McAfee Show on X.
“Alabama and Tennessee is always a BIG game..
The trainers started smoking cigars naked when they won the game in 1961 😂😂
That became a tradition and I really do think it’s an underrated rivalry” ~ Coach Saban #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/yS5Y1QP4Zx
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 18, 2025
The seven-time national champion walked through the rivalry's history, going back decades.
“It goes way back, and the reason for that was coach Bear Bryant and General Neyland were so successful that it was always a big game back in the late 50s and 60s,” he explained.
Saban then dropped a wild piece of history about how the cigar-smoking tradition started.
“The trainers started smoking cigars naked when they won the game in 1961. So that became a tradition to smoke cigars,” he said. “I really do think one of the underrated rivalries is the Tennessee-Alabama game because people don't realize how much it means internally.”
Tonight's game supports everything Saban said about the stakes. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, and Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will call the action.
Alabama enters riding a five-game winning streak, including road wins over ranked opponents, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Missouri Tigers. Tennessee counters with serious offensive firepower.
The Vols rank fourth nationally at 527.8 yards per game, with transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar running the show. The former Appalachian State signal-caller has 1,680 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, while his top target, Chris Brazzell II, has racked up 536 yards and seven touchdowns.
The Volunteers took last year's meeting 24-17 in Knoxville but haven't won in Tuscaloosa since 2003. With both teams at 5-1 and ranked in the top 11, tonight's Week 8 matchup could reshape the SEC race.
