Alabama and Tennessee Will Both Wear Home Jerseys for First Time Since 1970

College football's oldest visual rule is getting an exception for one of its oldest rivalries.

Alabama and Tennessee announced Wednesday that both teams will wear their home jerseys, crimson for Alabama and orange for Tennessee, when they play each other this season and next. This year's game is set for Oct. 17 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. The 2027 rematch will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Under normal NCAA rules, the visiting team has to wear white or a contrasting color unless the home team agrees otherwise in writing and the home team's conference signs off. Alabama and Tennessee cleared both hurdles. A Tennessee source confirmed to Newsweek that the two schools put the agreement in writing and that the SEC office approved it. Without that paperwork, Alabama would have opened each half facing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and lost a timeout at the start of every quarter, per NCAA rules cited by Newsweek.

This isn't a new gimmick. It's a revival. Alabama and Tennessee both wore their team colors against each other every year until 1970, when the SEC put in a rule forcing road teams into white, according to On3. The last time fans in Knoxville saw crimson and orange collide was Oct. 17, 1970, a 24-0 Tennessee win at Neyland Stadium, per On3 and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.

Getting it back required sign-off from a lot of people. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, Tennessee athletic director Danny White, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and the SEC office all had to agree, according to Thamel's reporting, confirmed by Touchdown Alabama Magazine and ClutchPoints.

"The Third Saturday in October stands alone in college football, and we are excited to restore one of its most iconic traditions as both teams wear their home jerseys," White said in a statement carried by On3 and Newsweek. "I'm grateful to Alabama AD Greg Byrne and his staff for their shared commitment to bringing this experience back to the fans of one of the sport's greatest rivalries."

Byrne echoed that in his own statement, per On3: "This series is built on decades of tradition, and we're excited to bring back a piece of its history beginning this season."

DeBoer and Heupel both weighed in through their programs' social media rollouts, according to Sports Illustrated. DeBoer called the rivalry "one of the most historic in all of college football" and said the jersey move adds "another unique element that makes the Third Saturday in October so special to both universities." Heupel said bringing the tradition back "adds another meaningful element to such a historic college football rivalry."

The NCAA rule exists for a reason. In 2008, USC lost a timeout for wearing cardinal and gold on the road against UCLA in the Rose Bowl, a penalty Newsweek noted as the cautionary example here. The rule is designed to protect fans buying tickets expecting to see the visiting team in an away kit and to keep officials and broadcasters from mixing up similarly colored jerseys on the field. Crimson and orange are visually distinct enough that the confusion risk is different from the problem USC and UCLA faced with two shades of dark colors.

The stakes on the field are real too. Alabama leads the all-time series 61-39-8, though sources differ slightly on the exact numbers, with ClutchPoints citing 60-40-7 and On3 citing Tennessee's record as 40-61-7. Either way, Tennessee's 40 wins over Alabama are its most against any opponent, according to ClutchPoints. The road team hasn't won this series since Alabama beat Tennessee in Knoxville in 2020, and Alabama has dropped both of its last two trips to Neyland Stadium, per ClutchPoints and Touchdown Alabama Magazine.

Alabama enters this season ranked 13th in the AP Poll and opens Sept. 5 against East Carolina. Tennessee opens the same day against Furman, ranked 20th, according to ClutchPoints. The Oct. 17 kickoff at Neyland Stadium will be the first live test of whether crimson and orange sharing the same field is the spectacle both athletic departments are selling or just a novelty that fades once the ball is kicked off.