I Own You In The Fall, You Own Me In The Winter

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For years and years Steve Spurrier and Florida owned Phillip Fulmer and Tennessee.

After a short furlough provided by Ron Zook, Fulmer and the Vols have been tossed back into their Florida gulag by current boogeymen Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow.

Former Tennessee players have talked about the different feel around the UT football complex during Florida weeks.  The word you might use is “tightening.”

But while UT tended to pucker up, Florida’s players came into their SEC East showdowns with the Volunteers with all the confidence that a team could have.

Florida’s players own Tennessee in football and they know it.  There are no early game jitters and there’s a cool confidence late.  They know they can beat Tennessee.

It’s funny then that the roles are now completely reversed in the two schools’ basketball rivalry.

Bruce Pearl is now 7-1 against Billy Donovan and his Gators.  Just as Spurrier owned Tennessee during the highs of their Manning years, Pearl has lorded over the Gators even during their back-to-back NCAA title years.

At home or on the road (three-out-of-four in Gainesville), tight game or blowout, Tennessee’s players know that they can beat the Gators.

So while it might be argued that Tennessee and Pearl are in Florida’s heads, I think this has more to do with the place Florida holds in UT’s players’ heads:

The Vols are confident that when they step on the court against Florida that they will win.  And they play better because of it.

Just as the football Gators have that same advantage each autumn.

It’s odd that the two schools have such a command over one another in the big two sports.  In fact, you could say that neither rivalry (football or basketball) really is a rivalry right now.

Which makes the overall all-sports rivalry between the two schools even more interesting to watch.