Coaching coups, controversial touchdown catches, missed field goals and championship berths on the line-there was a time when the Tennessee-Florida game highlighted the college football season.

While fans had to wait until November for the big rivalry games, the Vols and Gators often decided the SEC Champion by the third week of the season.

Although Florida has largely dominated the game in the past 20 years, it hasn’t been without intrigue, especially with past characters like Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer involved.

Here are five games that represent why Tennessee vs Florida was once one of the greatest rivalries that college football had to offer:

1969 Gator Bowl: Florida 14, Tennessee 13

More than two decades before it would become a staple in college football, the 1969 Florida-Tennessee matchup had plenty of storylines.

The Vols had just won the SEC, and although they didn’t play the Gators in the regular season, the two teams were paired together in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on Dec. 27 of that year.

Prior to the game, Florida head coach Ray Graves-who played football at Tennessee under General Neyland in the 1930s-was stepping down after a 10-year stint in Gainesville. The Gator Bowl against his Alma Mater would be his final game at the helm.

To make the game even more interesting, rumors began to circulate in the days leading up to kickoff that Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey-a Florida alum-was going to leave Knoxville for his Alma Mater after five seasons.

Dickey was asked by reporters about said rumors. He responded, “I have no comment on the Florida job. I have not talked to the players about it.”

As interesting as the outside drama was, even more interesting was the game itself.

In a low-scoring affair, Florida sent Graves off on a high note, beating the Vols 14-13. Three days later, Dickey was announced as the Gators’ head coach.

1995 Florida 62, Tennessee 37

Okay, that score might have you wondering how this particular game makes a list claiming that this was once a great rivalry game, but it just shows how weird this game could be.

Tennessee traveled to Gainesville as the No. 8 team in the country, while the Gators were No. 4 overall.

Peyton Manning and the Vols jumped out to a 30-14 lead in the first half, with the sophomore quarterback hitting everything and anything.

Right before halftime, however, Manning found wide receiver Joey Kent over the middle where he was hit hard by Florida defensive back Lawrence Wright, jarring the ball loose and giving the Gators the ball. It might have been the jolt Florida needed.

Tennessee actually scored a defensive touchdown on the ensuing Florida drive, but it would be their second to last of the day as Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel poured it on in the second half with seven-straight touchdown drives.

“I felt like we could score everytime that we got it,” Spurrier told reporters following the game. “And we came awfully close.”

1998 Tennessee 20, Florida 17

Did you read that score in John Ward’s voice?

Definitely the most memorable game in the series for Tennessee came in 1998. Florida had won five-straight over the Vols and was entering the game at No. 2 in both major polls.

Tennessee was still living in the shadow of former quarterback Peyton Manning, and was breaking in his backup of two years, Tee Martin.

The sixth-ranked Vols were coming off of a close 34-33 win over Syracuse the week before and the Gators were once again favored, but a slew of turnovers kept them from putting the game away late, and the game wound up in overtime.

Tennessee kicker Jeff Hall, the hero in  the game against Syracuse, gave the Vols a 20-17 lead on their first drive of overtime. On the following drive, Florida kicker Collins Cooper tried to replicate it but missed wide right to give Tennessee the win.

The missed field goal prompted one of the most iconic radio calls in Tennessee history, courtesy of Vol Network’s John Ward: “The kick is in the air and the kick this time is…NO SIR-EE. NO SIR-EE. Tennessee 20, Florida 17. Pandemonium reigns!”

The Vols went on to complete an undefeated season and claim their first national championship in over thirty years.

2000 Florida 27, Tennessee 23

The game, known in history as ‘the catch,’ had one of the more wild endings in the Tennessee-Florida rivalry.

In a contest that once again pitted two top 10 teams against each other, the Vols were leading late, 23-20 when Florida was driving with just over a minute left to play.

The Gators had the ball deep inside Tennessee territory when Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer found Reche Caldwell in the endzone for the go-ahead score. The touchdown was negated by a penalty, however.

With 14 seconds left, Palmer again went to the endzone, hitting Jabar Gaffney in the stomach, covered by two Vols. Gaffney held the ball for a split second before dropping it to the turf. The referee immediately signaled touchdown, prompting then-CBS announcer Verne Lundquist to say, “Boy, is that going to be controversial.”

It was, and still is.

2001 Tennessee 34, Florida 32

This game was originally slated for Sept. 15 in Gainesville, but the September 11 terrorist attacks the week prior rescheduled all college football games for that week, pushing the Tennessee-Florida game back to Dec. 1.

Both teams came into the game with one loss and ranked in the top five. The winner went to Atlanta to take on LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

Florida was the favorite-by 18 points to be exact-but the Vols ran all over the place, with running back Travis Stephens rushing for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Gators scored late to pull within two, needing a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. Florida quarterback Rex Grossman, under a heavy Tennessee rush, tried to find his favorite target, Gaffeny, but the ball sailed high and to the right.

The Vols dominating performance might have stemmed from the fact that they were the underdog and that most of the country gave them no shot to go into the ‘Swamp’ and win.

Head coach Phillip Fulmer gave them something to believe with his now-famous pregame talk in the visitors locker room at Florida Field.

“I don’t know how many in the country believe,” Fulmer said. “That really doesn’t matter, either. It only matters what the men in this room believe…those guys put their jocks on just like you do. Those guys like the same girls that you like. Everything’s the same. It gets back down to who wants to win it the most.”

Tennessee wanted it most.