Is Alabama football winning fans away from Tennessee Vols? There's evidence in Knoxville

John Adams | Knoxville

The Tennessee Vols are accustomed to losing football games to Alabama. But could it also be losing fans to the Tide?

The thought crossed my mind when I was in a local Office Depot.

I was on my way to the day-planners section when I noticed the scarlet A’s. They were on notepads, notebooks, and journals.

You could get the same material in orange with a Power T. But Alabama had equal representation.

There was nothing with a Georgia, Florida or Auburn logo. It was just Tennessee or Alabama.

Imagine that.

Granted, Alabama isn’t that far from Knoxville. However, I doubt you will find Tennessee notebooks at an Office Depot in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama football has Nick Saban, national titles

Alabama has something going for it that Tennessee can’t match: national championships. It has won five national titles since Nick Saban became coach in 2007. And it’s a popular pick to win another one this season, just as it did last season.

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All that winning works wonders for your fan base. Fans who have never been to Alabama now pull for the Tide. They also wear Tide caps, Tide shirts, and write in Tide journals apparently.

I remember when Miami became a college football powerhouse early in the 1980s. Prior to their championships, the Hurricanes had trouble filling half the seats in the Orange Bowl. Winning changed that. Suddenly, fans were donning Miami gear in Colorado and New Jersey.

Now, Alabama is more dominant than Miami. And there’s no end in sight.

The Tide didn’t win national championships at this rate under Bear Bryant in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, Alabama’s rise to dominance has coincided with Tennessee’s decline.

And UT’s administration has brought the programs closer together.

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What if Jeremy Pruitt replaced Nick Saban?

It hired Alabama associate athletic director Dave Hart as its AD in 2011. Last December, it hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as its head football coach.

Pruitt couldn’t join the Vols right away. He had to finish helping Alabama win a national championship first.

The Tennessee-Alabama traffic can flow the other way, too. Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones now works for Saban as “an analyst.” Alabama is paying him $35,000 a year to be an analyst. Tennessee is paying him 100 times that not to be its head coach.

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UT fans aren't worried about what Jones can do for Alabama, but they might be concerned about Pruitt. If he can turn Tennessee's program right-side up, might he eventually return to Alabama as Saban’s successor?

Despite the disparity in the programs, many UT fans are vehemently opposed to all things Alabama. My wife, Melinda, is one of those fans. She doesn’t even like driving through Alabama.

But my wife is also a front-runner. She pulled for Southern California when Pete Carroll led it to back-to-back national championships, and she wore a Florida shirt under her UT orange when Tim Tebow was quarterbacking the Gators to national championships.

It makes me wonder if — despite her professed hatred for the Tide — there’s an Alabama fan fighting to get out.

So, I’m interested to see how she responds to the Alabama journal I bought her at Office Depot.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns

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