Every year from 1956 through 1991, Auburn and Tennessee played each other, usually in late September, often with one or both ranked. For a long stretch, Auburn was arguably the biggest rival Tennessee had outside Alabama. Then the SEC split into divisions in 1992, Auburn landed in the West and Tennessee in the East, and one of the league’s best annual games became an occasional one.
The series has produced a number one team getting upset at Neyland, two SEC Championship Games, and a pair of ties that still get argued about. Here is the history worth knowing.
A series with long gaps
Auburn and Tennessee first met on November 10, 1900 in Birmingham, a 23-0 Auburn win. They did not play again for 29 years. Five more meetings followed in the 1930s, then a pause of 16 years covering the war era, before the annual run began in 1956.
Auburn leads the series 29-22-3 across 54 meetings. The games have been played in four cities: Birmingham, where Auburn leads 10-5 at Legion Field, Knoxville, where Tennessee leads 13-10-2, Auburn, where the Tigers are 8-3-1, and Atlanta, where the two split a pair of conference title games.
The landmark games
- Tennessee won 3-0 on a Cotton Letner field goal, the only points of the day, ending a 24 game winning streak for an Auburn program that had won the national championship two seasons earlier.
- The first meeting ever played on Auburn’s campus. Tennessee had previously insisted on Legion Field, which was curious given that Auburn had won most of the Birmingham games. The Tigers marked the occasion with a 21-0 win.
- Tennessee won 42-0 in front of the largest on campus crowd Auburn had hosted to that point. It remains the largest margin in the series.
- Auburn arrived at Neyland Stadium ranked number one with Bo Jackson, who would win the Heisman that season. Tennessee scored the game’s first 24 points and won 38-20, piling up 479 yards. Tony Robinson threw for 259 yards and four touchdowns, and Jackson, who had run for 495 yards in Auburn’s first two games, was held to 80 on 17 carries.
- Both teams came in undefeated. Trailing 20-13, Tennessee scored on fourth and one with 1:20 left, and Johnny Majors chose the extra point and the 20-20 tie rather than a two point try. It worked out for Auburn, which went on to win the SEC.
- Tennessee led 26-9 in the fourth quarter at Auburn. Freshman Stan White threw touchdown passes with eight minutes and 1:56 remaining, Auburn took the extra point for 26-26, and Tennessee missed a 34 yard field goal with 15 seconds left.
- The last of the annual meetings drew 97,731, then the largest crowd in Neyland history. Carl Pickens caught four passes for 172 yards, including touchdowns of 87 and 67 yards, in a 30-21 Tennessee win.
Two title games in Atlanta
The rivalry produced its two biggest games after the annual series ended.
In the 1997 SEC Championship Game, Auburn led 29-23 late in the third quarter, helped by a blocked extra point returned for two points. Peyton Manning answered with a short pass to Marcus Nash that turned into a 73 yard go ahead touchdown, finishing with 373 yards and four scores in a 30-29 win. Auburn’s Dameyune Craig passed for 262 yards.
Seven years later the two met in Atlanta again. Auburn had already won the regular season meeting 34-10, and quarterback Jason Campbell was named MVP of the 38-28 championship win after piling up 431 total yards, an SEC Championship Game record at the time. That Auburn team went on to beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.
The recent record
Auburn has gone 7-3 against Tennessee since the divisions arrived, including the longest win streak in series history at six games from 2003 through 2013. Tennessee’s most recent win came in 2018, 30-24 at Jordan-Hare. Auburn took the latest meeting on November 21, 2020, winning 30-17 behind a roster that included Bo Nix, Tank Bigsby, and Seth Williams.
On the basketball court
The two programs meet far more often in men’s basketball, where Tennessee leads 84-46 dating to 1927 and holds a decisive 52-9 edge in Knoxville. The Volunteers have won three straight, most recently 72-62 in Nashville in March 2026 after trailing by seven at the half. Auburn’s largest recent statement came in 2020, a 22 point win in Knoxville.
Want to see how the programs stack up now? The School Rivalry tool puts them side by side on NIL, fan engagement, rankings, and championships. Compare Auburn and Tennessee.
Tracking today’s stars
This series has put Heisman winners on the field before. Pat Sullivan drove Auburn to a 10-9 win over Tennessee in 1971, the season he won the trophy, and Bo Jackson came to Neyland in 1985 during his own Heisman year.
What has changed is how that visibility gets valued. Since the NCAA’s interim policy took effect on July 1, 2021, athletes have earned from their name, image, and likeness through endorsements, sponsorships, social content, and appearances. RallyFuel’s Heisman NIL Power Rankings weigh performance at 35 percent, NIL visibility at 20, social reach at 20, and fan demand at 25, and the full NIL Trophy Case tracks the same picture across ten major awards.
What comes next
The rivalry returns on Saturday, October 3, 2026, Week 5, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, the first meeting since 2020 and the first in Knoxville since 2013. Tennessee lists the kickoff as still to be set, in a window of either late afternoon or evening. It lands in a demanding stretch for the Volunteers, who host Texas the week before and Alabama two weeks after. With Texas and Oklahoma having joined the SEC in 2024 and the league moving away from divisions, there is a real chance this becomes a regular fixture again rather than a reunion every five to seven years. Make your prediction here.
Fifty four meetings, two championship games, and one of the sport’s better upset histories. This one is worth putting back on the calendar.
