Florida–Tennessee football rivalry

The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry 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, and Florida and Tennessee were placed in the SEC's East Division and began to meet annually on a home-and-home basis. The matchups were often early in the season, giving rise to the Third Saturday in September nickname. The rivalry quickly blossomed in intensity and importance over the 1990s and early 2000s as both programs regularly fielded national championship contending teams under coaches Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and Steve Spurrier of Florida. The rivalry will be played every other season beginning in 2025 due to further SEC expansion and the league's move to a nine-game conference schedule.

Tennessee dominated the rivalry's early years, winning the first ten meetings and holding a 13–2 lead in the series after beating the Gators in 1971. Florida has held the advantage since then, especially since the schools became SEC East rivals in 1992. After Tennessee’s 31–11 victory in 2025, the Gators lead the all-time series 32–23.