Florida–Tennessee football rivalry
The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry, also called the Third Saturday in September, is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee, who first met on the football field in 1916. The Gators and Vols have competed in the same athletic conference since Florida joined the now-defunct Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1910, and the schools were founding members of the Southeastern Conference in 1932. Despite this long conference association, a true rivalry did not develop until the early 1990s due to the infrequency of earlier meetings; in the first seventy-six years (1916–91) of the series, the two teams met just twenty-one times. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) expanded to twelve universities and split into two divisions in 1992. Florida and Tennessee were placed in the SEC's East Division and have met on a home-and-home basis every season since. Their rivalry quickly blossomed in intensity and importance in the 1990s and early 2000s as both programs regularly fielded national championship contending teams under coaches Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and Steve Spurrier at Florida.
2007 game
Gator fans are encouraged to wear blue when Florida plays Tennessee to stand out from orange-clad Volunteer fans.
The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) They play their home games on Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville campus.
1907 UF football team
Celebration following the 2009 BCS National Championship Game
2007 Florida State game
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during the 2008 Florida–Kentucky game in which Florida would win 63–5.