Tennessee fans in Neyland Stadium do the Gator chomp after learning Florida upset Ole Miss

Tennessee and Florida have a rivalry with a rich history. On Saturday, though, the Volunteers found themselves rooting for the Gators.

When the Neyland Stadium crowd learned that Ole Miss would lose to Florida, it produced a sight that would make any college sports fan do a double take: Vols fans doing the Gator chomp (and not to mock UF).

When Neyland found out Ole Miss lost pic.twitter.com/jL7kGo42lW

— CHANNEL TN (@CHANNEL_TN_) November 23, 2024

This was, of course, an enemy-of-my-enemy situation for the UT faithful.

In the College Football Playoff rankings entering Week 13, Tennessee found itself projected outside the 12-team CFP bracket. As Connor O’Gara explained earlier in the week, it’s hard to find a reasonable path to the SEC Championship Game for the Vols. UT’s ticket to the Playoff is almost certainly via an at-large bid, and the Vols needed some chaos to get there.

Week 13 is off to a spectacular start for Tennessee with a blowout win over UTEP and some help for the next top 25. Florida’s win gives Ole Miss a third loss, which almost certainly knocks the Rebels out of the CFP. Tennessee is now sure to pass Ole Miss in the rankings, and there will also be plenty of debate surrounding just how far a 1-loss Indiana team will drop considering its schedule difficulty.

Rest assured, the Tennessee-Florida rivalry will be at its usual levels of intensity and bitterness next time the Vols and Gators tangle. But on Saturday, a Florida victory was a win for Tennessee.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.