Tennessee gets Alabama back at Neyland for the first time since that 2024 shootout, and neither program is walking in with a settled starting quarterback.
Bush’s Picks
ALATENN
ALATENN
OverUnder
Best BetAlabama
Alabama's the more proven program right now, backed up by an 11-4 season and a first-round playoff win, so the moneyline still tilts toward the Tide even on the road. The wrinkle is that Alabama hasn't had this little clarity at quarterback in years, and Tennessee's building real juice off a top-15 finish two years running. Back Alabama here, but don't expect the same margin as last year's blowout.
Alabama
+Beat Tennessee 37-20 in Tuscaloosa last season
+DeBoer just signed a 7-year, $87.5M extension
+Made the CFP and beat Oklahoma in the first round
−Blown out 38-3 by Indiana in the Rose Bowl
−No proven starter after Ty Simpson left for the NFL
−Alabama's had real road struggles at Neyland historically
Tennessee
+Beat Alabama 24-17 in Knoxville in 2024
+Heupel built the roster without overspending in NIL
+Rivalry's been dead even, 2-2, the last four years
−Finished 8-4, blew a lead in a 30-28 bowl loss
−Three-way QB battle still unresolved into fall camp
−Went just 4-4 in SEC play during 2025
Alabama's QB derby between senior Austin Mack and sophomore Keelon Russell has been the story of Tuscaloosa all summer, especially after Russell went 20-of-32 for 229 yards and 4 touchdowns on A-Day. Tennessee's got its own scramble at the position, with redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon carrying the load after the room got reshaped this offseason. Neither Josh Heupel nor Kalen DeBoer has committed to naming a starter before fall camp wraps, so this early preview leans on program trajectory more than snap counts.
Whoever wins each job inherits a rivalry that's been anything but stagnant lately. Tennessee stole one in Knoxville in 2024, then Alabama answered with a 37-20 beatdown in Tuscaloosa last October. Roster continuity matters more than usual with new signal-callers on both sides, which is part of why the market is still figuring out how much stock to put in last year's result.
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ALA Alabama
TENN Tennessee
What's not in question is the stakes attached to the Third Saturday in October name. Both programs enter this cycle with real questions up front and at receiver, and how those units gel through August camp will decide more of this game than anything that happened in 2025.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Oct 9?vs Georgia—
Oct 2?@ Mississippi State—
Sep 25?vs South Carolina—
Sep 19?vs Florida State—
Sep 12?@ Kentucky—
Sep 5?vs East Carolina—
Tennessee Volunteers
Oct 9?@ Arkansas—
Oct 2?vs Auburn—
Sep 26?vs Texas—
Sep 19?vs Kennesaw State—
Sep 12?@ Georgia Tech—
Sep 5?vs Furman—
Recent form.
Alabama's the safer bet on paper. An 11-4 season, a first-round playoff win over Oklahoma, and a fresh 7-year, $87.5 million extension for DeBoer all point to a program still climbing. But the way last season ended, a 38-3 wipeout against Indiana in the Rose Bowl, is the kind of result that lingers into a new year if the quarterback room doesn't settle fast.
Tennessee took its own gut-punch to close things out, blowing a fourth-quarter lead in a 30-28 loss to Illinois to finish 8-4. Heupel's approach of building through the portal without overspending in the NIL arms race is either smart, patient roster construction or a program settling for solid instead of great. Neyland Stadium will be a decent proving ground for which one it actually is.
