In one of the weekend's best games, two ranked teams in college football's best conference match up as the No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers host the No. 18 Florida Gators on Saturday.
Both teams are 2-0 on the season and enter the game ranked for the first time together since the 2007 game. Tennessee hasn't been ranked in the Top 25 since 2008.
Both teams have struggled the past few years with ranked opponents. Tennessee has lost 11 straight against the Top 25 and Florida has lost nine.
While the rivalry hasn't been as relevant in recent years because of Tennessee's struggles, this year it has a more significant feel.
"Tennessee is always going to feel like Tennessee because that's just our rival, our rival team that we love to play,'' Florida linebacker Lerentee McCray told the Associated Press. "But it's kind of an old-school feel, getting back to it.''
When Steve Spurrier was coach of the Gators and Phillip Fulmer was Tennessee's head coach years ago, one of the two teams made it to the SEC championship game every year from 1992-2001.
Florida had great success in the 2000s, winning national championships in 2006 and 2008, but went only 7-6 in 2011.
The Vols and Gators were "two of the top five teams in the country in the '90's,'' Florida coach Will Muschamp said. "Basically, the third Saturday in September, whoever won that game certainly had a leg up on winning the East.''
Tennessee started 2-0 last year as well, but lost in the third game to Florida 33-23. The Volunteers will hope to erase those memories and continue playing solid football. The team won easily last week, defeating Georgia State 51-13.
Quarterback Tyler Bray had 310 yards and four touchdowns last week, but had two interceptions last year in the game against Florida. Bray has played very well so far this season, throwing for over 650 yards and no interceptions with six touchdowns.
Bray will have to deal with a stellar defensive backfield for the Gators, who are only one of 10 teams to not allow a touchdown pass against them this season.
Tennessee has lost seven straight against Florida and haven't won since 2004. In that game, the Volunteers scored on a last field goal with only six seconds left to play to win 30-28.
"We know this is going to be a big challenge," running back Rajion Neal told ESPN.com. "It's going to be a big step for us as far as showing everybody what we're made of this year."
Florida struggled last week against Texas A&M, but came back to win the game 20-17 after being down by 17 points.
Running back Mike Gillislee had two touchdowns in that game and currently leads the SEC with 231 yards rushing and 6.1 yards per carry average. He hurt his groin in the game last week but should be ready for Tennessee.
"I think he should be fine," Muschamp said. "We'll make sure he's ready to go for Saturday, but we feel like he's fully available."
Florida will be down a couple defensive players, including Linebacker Jelani Jenkins, who is out with a thumb injury, and cornerback Cody Riggs, who broke his right foot.
We did have some guys go down in the game and we've kind of got a saying around here, 'Man down, Man up,'" Muschamp said. "Our depth is still not where it needs to be but certainly much better than it was a year ago."
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