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Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: The Tennessee football team almost definitely will not win Saturday at top-ranked Alabama.

It might not even be a close game.

First-year UT coach Lane Kiffin probably knows that. Maybe that's why he's going out of his way to be respectful of the Crimson Tide, calling them the clear-cut No. 1 team in the nation and praising Alabama coach Nick Saban for building a program he hopes to emulate.

"It's really a model for the direction that we're going," Kiffin said Tuesday.

It could be awhile before this is a truly competitive rivalry again. For now, at least it's a more interesting one.

Kiffin, of course, is saying all of the right things this week. But no one should forget that he once decided to sling mud at Saban, just as he continues to take jabs at Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Current Tennessee linebackers coach Lance Thompson left Alabama in January to join Kiffin's staff. Thompson was a key recruiter under Saban, and Kiffin took great satisfaction in raiding the coaching staff of one of his top rivals.

He later went out of his way to remind everyone of his coup.

"Nick Saban should have started his press conference by saying, 'Our great class that we signed ... I'd really like to thank Lance because Lance signed eight of those guys,'" Kiffin said on national signing day.

In his first year on the job, this is one of the things Kiffin has done best. He apparently specializes in dousing smoldering series with gasoline -- and sometimes lighting a few sticks of dynamite just for good measure -- as a way of greeting his new counterparts.

If you buy Kiffin's explanation, it's a harsh but necessary method of sparking national interest in UT's rebuilding program.

He did the same thing to Florida on signing day, when he famously and incorrectly accused Meyer of cheating by contacting highly sought-after recruit Nu'Keese Richardson, who ultimately signed with the Vols, during a visit to UT's campus.

Even since Tennessee's loss Sept. 19 at Florida, Kiffin has persisted in his verbal sparring with Meyer. They seem to be about as close as former UT coaches Phillip Fulmer and Johnny Majors.

Kiffin later set his sights on Georgia coach Mark Richt, the Eagle Scout of Southeastern Conference coaches. Without quite as much gloating, Kiffin essentially declared war on the Bulldogs after UT's 45-19 rout of Georgia on Oct. 10, calling it "the biggest matchup" on UT's schedule for recruiting purposes.

Vols junior safety Eric Berry said Kiffin had discussed the Bulldogs plenty leading up to the game.

"(Kiffin) basically made a promise to us that we wouldn't lose to them anymore, forever or until he leaves," Berry said at the time. "He's not going to let Georgia beat us."

Chances are, each of Tennessee's top rivals wants a piece of Kiffin. Florida will have all of the off-field ammunition it needs for next year's trip to Neyland Stadium. Georgia officially has been called out, and it's safe to assume Saban and the Crimson Tide haven't forgotten what Kiffin said about Thompson -- or that Thompson left for UT in the first place.

It probably won't make for a great game this week. If nothing else, though, it gives fans on both sides more reason to care about a series that's starting to get a bit one-sided. Alabama has won each of the last two meetings by 20 points or more.

In other words, don't expect Kiffin to make any guarantees to his players this week.

With a potent running game and dominating defense, the Crimson Tide appear to be a nightmarish matchup for UT's undersized offensive line and defense. That might not change for a while, either.

"We're going to have to do everything right to have a chance to make this matchup competitive again," Kiffin said.

Give Kiffin this much, though: He sure can talk a good game.

Ryan Callahan covers University of Tennessee football. Write to him at The Daily Times, P.O. Box 9740, Maryville, TN 37802, e-mail him at ryan.callahan@thedailytimes.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/DTsportsRyan.