Florida–Tennessee football rivalry
The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry, sometimes referred to as 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.
Florida–Georgia football rivalry
The first game acknowledged by both schools was held in Jacksonville in 1915. The rivalry has been renewed annually since 1926, except for the 1943 season when Florida did not field a team due to World War II. The game has often had championship implications, with both teams competitive in the Southeastern Conference. Florida, which did not win the SEC title until 1991, had its hopes dashed several times by a loss to Georgia in Jacksonville, including during Steve Spurrier's senior season in 1966. The game took on new importance when the SEC split into Eastern and Western Divisions in 1992, with both Florida and Georgia in the Eastern Division. As the two teams are frequently at or near the top of the division standings, the game has often determined who will represent the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game. To date, Florida has fourteen Eastern Division titles while Georgia has nine.
While the two universities agree that Georgia leads the overall series, they disagree as to the overall series record due to the disputed 1904 game. As of the 2017 contest, Georgia leads with a 51–43–2 record by its reckoning, and 50–43–2 by Florida's count. Georgia dominated the series before 1952, with Florida winning just five of the first 29 (or 30, if counting 1904) contests. Georgia also had an advantage in the 1970s and 1980s, leading the series 15–5 during those decades. Florida dominated the series 18-3 in the two decades following Steve Spurrier's return to Florida in 1990. Since 2010, the series has been split, 5–4.