Florida–Tennessee football rivalry
Florida and Tennessee have played on the third Saturday of September almost every year since 1992, giving the rivalry its nickname. Notable exceptions were in 2001, when the game was postponed until December 1 due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, and in 2014, when the addition of two new members to the SEC temporarily scrambled the dates of many traditional conference rivalries and moved the Florida–Tennessee game to October. The rivalry has sometimes served as the conference opener and is often the first significant test of the season for one or both of the teams.
Florida–Tennessee football rivalry
One result of the SEC's 1992 expansion and split into divisions was the beginning of an annual match-up between Florida and Tennessee at a time when both programs rose to national prominence. Under head coaches Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer, the Gators and Volunteers were annual contenders for conference and national championships, with both teams usually fielding wide-open offenses led by top quarterbacks such as Danny Wuerffel and Peyton Manning, among many other highly decorated players on both sides of the ball.