Third Saturday in October The Third Saturday in October , also known as the Alabama – Tennessee football rivalry , is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee . It is known as the Third Saturday in October because the game was traditionally played on it prior to the 1992 football season , when the Southeastern Conference split into its Eastern and Western divisions . From 1995 to 2012 , it has only been scheduled for that date six times . Overall , Alabama leads the series with an official 49 – 38 – 7 record ( 50 – 37 – 8 on the field ) . Series history . The first game between the two sides was played in 1901 in Birmingham , ending in a 6 – 6 tie . From 1902 to 1913 , Alabama dominated the series , only losing once , and never allowing a touchdown by the Volunteers . Beginning in 1928 , the rivalry was first played on its traditional date and began to be a challenge for the Tide as Robert Neyland began challenging Alabama for their perennial spot on top of the conference standings . Between 1971 and 1981 , Alabama held an eleven - game winning streak over the Volunteers and between 1986 and 1994 , a nine - game unbeaten streak . However , following Alabama ' s streak , Tennessee responded with a seven - game winning streak from 1995 to 2001 . Alabama won the most recent game 44 – 13 in 2012 , and leads the series 49 – 38 – 7 . Victory cigars . In the 1950s , Jim Goostree , the head trainer for Alabama , began another tradition as he began handing out cigars following a victory over the Volunteers . Both teams continued the tradition for some time , though kept it secret due to NCAA rules concerning extra benefits and tobacco products . Alabama publicly restarted the tradition in 2005 , though as a result , self - reported an NCAA violation before finally being banned following the violation . Streaks . There have been several long winning streaks in the series . In the first major streak of the series , Bama won 7 straight over the Vols from 1905 to 1913 ( the two teams did not play in 1910 and 1911 ) , outscoring the Vols 112 – 0 in the process . Alabama has the longest winning streak of the series , 11 games , from 1971 to 1981 . It was broken in 1982 when Johnny Majors led the Vols to an upset victory over Bear Bryant and the Tide . Alabama had a 9 game unbeaten streak from 1986 to 1994 , including a tie in 1993 which was later forfeited due to NCAA sanctions . The streak was broken by Tennessee in 1995 when the Vols beat the Tide 41 – 14 . Tennessee began their own seven - game win streak that night , which was broken when Alabama defeated the Vols 34 – 14 in 2002 . Alabama currently enjoys a six - game winning streak in the series from 2007 to 2012 with an average margin of victory during this stretch of 21 points . All time . Alabama leads the all – time series 49 – 38 – 7 ( with the 1993 tie " forfeited " to Tennessee by Bama due to NCAA penalties , and the 2005 Bama victory " vacated " due to NCAA penalty ) . Due to this technicality , Tennessee actually has one more " official " contest in the series ( the 2005 loss , which is officially not removed by the NCAA ruling ) , giving the Vols 38 wins to 50 losses in the series . Alabama has no official result ( Win or Loss ) for 2005 , giving the Tide 49 wins to 38 losses in the series . The game has been played in 3 different cities . Alabama leads the series in all three venues : for games played in Birmingham , Alabama , by a record of 21 – 14 – 6 ( 21 – 13 – 7 " on the field " ) , for those contested in Knoxville , Tennessee by a record of 23 – 20 – 1 , and for games in the series played in Tuscaloosa by a record of 6 – 4 ( 7 – 4 " on the field " ) . Alabama won the last game , played on October 20 , 2012 , 44 - 13 . Game results . " Alabama victories are colored ██ crimson . Tennessee victories are colored ██ orange . Ties are white . " " Rankings are from the AP Poll "