Tennessee will play for the betterment of its postseason resume, not a beer barrel, when it faces Kentucky for the 120th time on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

That barrel--a fitting trophy given to the victor between the Vols and Wildcats for more than 70 years--is stashed away somewhere as a relic of a different time for one of the oldest rivalries in the SEC.

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A little more than 170 miles separate the two schools, but the distance that Tennessee has put between itself and Kentucky in the all-time series is far wider. The Vols have won 84 games since the two teams first met in Knoxville in 1893.

The Wildcats have just 26 wins in that span and have only won four times in the last 40 years. Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) is a considerable home favorite on Saturday over a struggling Kentucky (3-5, 1-4) team and a win just before the release of the initial College Football Playoff rankings next week could further solidify the Vols' spot in the top 12.

As for the past, Tennessee's dominance in the series doesn't mean it hasn't included some memorable clashes. The list of names that have been involved int he rivalry once known as the "Battle of the Barrel' include the likes of Robert Neyland and Bear Bryant and at one point had SEC and national implications.

Here is a look back at the series between Tennessee and Kentucky.

Who: Kentucky (3-5, 1-4 SEC) at No. 7 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1)

When: Saturday, Nov. 2 | 7:45 p.m. ET

Where: Neyland Stadium | Knoxville

TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jordan Rodgers, analyst; Cole Cubelic, reporter)

Series: Tennessee leads, 84-26-9

In Knoxville: Tennessee, 44-11-6

In Lexington: Tennessee, 40-15-3

Tennessee's domination of Kentucky has only continued under head coach Josh Heupel, but the Vols' two trips to Lexington in the last four years have been defined by a few key plays.

After Tennessee won a back-and-forth game headlined by Alontae Taylor's interception return for a touchdown in 2021, the Vols needed a strong second half performance from running back Dylan Sampson to beat Kentucky a year ago.

Jaylen Wright, who rushed for a 52-yard touchdown on Tennessee's opening drive, exited the game late in the second half with an injury and Sampson took a bulk of the carries in the fourth quarter, bursting for a 12-yard touchdown that all but put the Wildcats out of reach late in a 33-27 win at Kroger Field.

Nov. 25, 1950: Shields-Watkins Field mirrored a frozen tundra more than a gridiron.

With snow pushed to the side and piled up along the walls, Robert Neyland's ninth-ranked Tennessee team played the role of spoiler against unbeaten and No. 9 Kentucky, led by its head coach Bear Bryant in late November 1950.

Neyland outfitted his players with hand warmers and Bryant brought 40 pairs of basketball shoes to have on hand in case the turf had frozen over.

Both teams combined for 16 fumbles, but the Vols' defense rendered Wildcats' all-star quarterback Viteo "Babe" Parilli virtually ineffective, shutting out Kentucky for the second-straight season.

The difference for Tennessee was a 27-yard pass from do-it-all halfback Hank Lauricella to Bert Rechichar for the lone score in a 7-0 Vols' victory that knocked Kentucky out of national title contention.

The Vols went on to defeat No. 3 Texas, 20-14 in the Cotton Bowl for their third national championship.

"The only humin' in icy-tinseled Shields-Watkins Stadium yesterday was that of a the wind as it flecked snow from 52,000 seats and added discomfort for 45,000 fans who wanted to see football at its best," Knoxville Journal sports editor Ed Harris hammered out on his typewriter. "Tennessee's part of the numbed humanity was well rewarded. Kentucky's never had a more miserable afternoon.

"Ice cicles rimmed the horseshoe and the brilliance of the sunshine made the ice-encrusted rows a mirror of winter fantasy."

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Nov. 24, 2007: Tennessee's grip on a berth in the SEC Championship Game was was slipping away after it looked all but certain.

In the Vols' final regular season game of the 2007 season, they led Kentucky 24-7 at halftime in Lexington. But the Wildcats didn't go away.

Kentucky clawed its way back, sending the game into overtime on Lones Seiber's game-tying field goal as time expired. When the Wildcats took the lead in the second overtime, the script had been flipped for Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge.

Ainge's 13-yard touchdown pass to Austin Rogers gave the Vols life again and extended the game into a third overtime. On the first play of the fourth overtime, tossed his seventh touchdown pass, this one to Quentin Hancock for the lead again.

Tennessee needed a two-point conversion to add some cushion. Rogers again caught a pass from Ainge to stretch the Vols' lead and force Kentucky to have to score a touchdown and go for two to stay alive.

Derrick Locke completed the first step of that equation to trim Tennessee's advantage to two, but the defense made a stand on the ensuing two-point attempt to cap a thrilling 52-50 victory that propelled them into the conference title game against LSU the following week--the Vols' last appearance.

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