Saturday, Alabama and Tennessee will square off for the 105th time in their heated rivalry, with Alabama holding the advantage in the series 59-37-8.
As Alabama's head coach, Nick Saban holds a perfect record of 15-0 against the Vols. So, when was the last time Tennessee defeated Alabama in this rivalry? Well, on Saturday, it will be 5,838 days since Oct. 21, 2006, the day Tennessee beat Alabama. But who’s counting? Outside of a couple of close ones during this streak, the games haven’t even been competitive. Alabama has outscored Tennessee 589-201 over the past 15 years.
Do you remember the last time Tennessee beat Alabama? It has been a long time, so let me help refresh your mind on what was going on in the world the last time the Vols won.
For you music buffs, the last time Tennessee beat Alabama, Justin Timberlake topped the charts with his hit single “SexyBack.” Other notable top songs were “Lips of an Angel” by Hinder and “How to Save a Life” by The Fray. I’m sure we all had these songs loaded on our iPod Nanos back then.
For the moviegoers, the top movie at the box office the last time Tennessee beat Alabama was “The Prestige,” just edging out “The Departed” for top honors — two great movies that still hold up to this day. If you couldn’t go see these in theaters, don’t worry — you could go to your neighborhood Blockbuster (yes, Blockbuster was still around) and rent them on DVD.
At the time Tennessee last won in this rivalry, George W. Bush was the President of the United States. Since then, the country has been through a total of four presidents during the Alabama streak. Gas, on average, cost $2.58 per gallon, and the minimum wage was $5.15 an hour. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) was head football coach at Auburn at this time. A few weeks after Tennessee’s last victory against Alabama, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) became the first female Speaker of the House.
A month before Tennessee’s last win against the Crimson Tide, America was mourning the loss of their favorite crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin, as he died in a freak stingray accident.
On the day the Crimson Tide last lost to Tennessee, Cal beat Washington in overtime, which led to one of the greatest celebrations in college football history. Cal running back Marshawn Lynch scored the winning touchdown in overtime and later proceeded to hop on the injury golf cart and recklessly drive it around the field.
The last time Tennessee beat Alabama in football, the Vols were ranked seventh in the nation and led by quarterback Erik Ainge. Mike Shula was the head coach for Alabama, but he was fired and replaced by Miami Dolphins head coach Nick Saban 75 days later.
One last thing if you really want to rub it in Tennessee's face: find me a Tennessee fan that has ever tweeted out a celebratory tweet after a Tennessee win against Alabama in football. You can't find one because Twitter wasn't around, and we didn't have iPhones either.
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