As expected, Tennessee Football’s road game this Saturday night at The Swamp will be a sold-out contest. Florida Athletics made the announcement on social media on Tuesday night.
The Gators have not had a true home game in over a month. After hosting Mississippi State in an SEC showdown on Oct. 18, Florida then played a neutral site game against Georgia and had back-to-back road games against Kentucky and Ole Miss.
With the nature of Saturday’s rivalry game, plus the addition of a home crowd that hasn’t walked through the gates of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in over a month, it’s not a surprise to see the announcement. Florida touts the news as the team’s 17th straight home sellout.
Despite the Gators’ challenging season with a 3-7 record, Florida fans will pack the house on Saturday night in hopes of seeing Florida continue its home dominance against the Volunteers. The Gators haven’t dropped a game at home to Tennessee since 2003, but they’ll go into this weekend’s game as the underdogs from a betting standpoint.
Perhaps the crowd starts to thin out if Tennessee can jump out to an early lead and deflate the hopes of the home crowd spectators. Maybe history begins to repeat itself and Florida stays competitive in the early going.
Either way, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel isn’t concerned about previous results and the 22-year losing streak in Gainesville. He and the team are aware of it, but Heupel has famously had a “nameless, faceless opponent” mantra during his time in Knoxville. He’s not sending his team out with the mission of breaking a streak, but is instead just looking to win a four-quarter football game.
“One play doesn’t have anything to do with the next, and a previous trip down to Gainesville doesn’t have anything to do with (this one),” Heupel said during his Monday press conference. “You’ve got to prepare the right way, you’ve got to practice the right way, and you’re going to have to go play extremely well in this one.”
Tennessee is currently a point favorite over Florida heading into Saturday’s rivalry game. Heupel is 2-2 against the Gators during his time on Rocky Top, with a pair of road losses and a pair of home wins. Florida holds a 32-22 advantage in the all-time series history between the two rivals.
This weekend’s game is critical for Tennessee. With a regular-season finale against in-state rival Vanderbilt next weekend, these two conference games will be the difference in Tennessee finishing the season with a 7-5, 8-4, or 9-3 record. The playoff window might be closed at this point in the season, but there’s still a lot of the line – including a 22-year road losing streak – on the line this weekend in The Swamp.
No. 20 Tennessee and Florida will square off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Gainesville. The game can be seen on ABC.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game this weekend.
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— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) November 19, 2025
