Tennessee's rivalries with Alabama and Florida aren't what they used to be, apparently.

The problem? The Vols have been beating those teams too much lately.

Enter Georgia, Saturday's opponent and winners of four in a row against the Vols.

The No. 3 Bulldogs are 11-point favorites over No. 17 Tennessee in a game that will be nationally televised by CBS (WVLT locally) at 3:30 p.m.

UT's players named Georgia as their top rival in a preseason word-association poll conducted by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

"I'm 0-4; I haven't beat them since I've been here,'' said Vols' center Jason Respert, a fifth-year senior from Warner Robins, Ga. "My mom hears about it, my sisters, my coaches, my step-dad ...''

Respert said people he doesn't even know remind him of Georgia's dominance each time he goes home.

"I'll hear a random "Go Dogs!'' at every store I go into,'' Respert said.

Respert said he chose Tennessee over Georgia and Florida coming out of high school because he preferred UT coach Phillip Fulmer to then-Bulldogs' coach Jim Donnan.

He conceded Monday that had Mark Richt been at Georgia when he came out of high school, "he could have made a difference.''

Things haven't been any easier for senior Derrick Tinsley, another of UT's 10 scholarship players from Georgia.

"It goes through my mind a lot that since I've been here, we haven't beaten them,'' said Tinsley, who's from Marietta. "I don't want to be part of a class that never beat Georgia.''

The Vols' seniors could become an ominous note in the history books with a defeat Saturday. No Tennessee class has ever lost in four consecutive years to the Bulldogs. A fifth consecutive loss would tie the mark for the Vols' most consecutive losses to Georgia set from 1909 to 1924.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer, who won his first eight games against the Bulldogs prior to this four-game skid, said he looks forward to rivalry games like this.

"They're fun to coach in and fun to be a part of,'' said Fulmer, who's 9-2 against Alabama and has won three of the past four games against Florida. "Georgia has played well against us. We've not taken care of the ball as well as we've needed to.''

Fulmer said this year's Georgia team is particularly impressive, as "there are no glaring weaknesses at all.''

UT broadcaster Bob Kesling was only mildly surprised to learn that Georgia had overtaken Alabama and Florida as Tennessee's biggest rivals in the players' eyes.

"Any time a team has that kind of success against you, it adds to the intensity of the game,'' said Kesling, a 30-year veteran of Knoxville's media ranks and the voice of the Vols since 1999. "You also look at the fact that most of these players were recruited by both schools.''

Other players from Georgia on the UT team are tailback Jabari Davis, defensive end Jason Hall, sophomore safety Jarod Parrish and freshmen Inky Johnson, Cameron Mayo, Bill Grimes, Anthony Parker and Ben Greene.