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Why Alabama softball players smoked cigars after beating Tennessee

Attentive fans who watched the moments immediately following Alabama softball's victory over Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional may have noticed the Crimson Tide players handing out something strange.

Immediately following 14th-seeded Alabama's upset victory over third-seeded Tennessee in Game 3 of the Super Regional, numerous Alabama players were seen walking around smoking cigars.

REQUIRED READING: Thanks to Grand Slam, Alabama softball teams win the Women's College World Series after defeating Tennessee

As noted by Mike Rodak of 247Sports:

While cigar smoking is technically a violation of NCAA rules, it is also a storied tradition in the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry—a tradition that originated on the football field and for which the NCAA punishes little more than a slap on the wrist.

Here's everything you need to know about why Alabama softball players smoked cigars after their win over Tennessee en route to the Women's College World Series:

Why did the Alabama softball team smoke cigars after Tennessee beat them?

It's a long-standing tradition in the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry that the winner of the two teams smokes cigars, and with stakes in the Knoxville Super Regional at stake, it made sense for Alabama to break them out, especially after the Crimson Tide lost their regular season series in Tuscaloosa 2-1 earlier in the season.

With Alabama's 2-1 series win in the Super Regional, the Crimson Tide and Lady Vols will finish the 2024 college softball season with a 3-3 record against each other. Still, Alabama had the last laugh – and the cigars – and prevented Tennessee from advancing to the WCWS:

Alabama fell to 0-1 in the Super Regional after giving up a 2-0 lead in Game 1 in Knoxville and losing 3-2. Patrick Murphy's Crimson Tide team managed to pull out a 3-2 win in 14 innings of Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1. Alabama won the series 4-1 on Sunday with a grand slam by Riley Valentine in the first inning – but not before thwarting a Tennessee comeback in the seventh inning.

REQUIRED READING: Alabama's football win over Tennessee sparked by cigar supply from former Nick Saban assistant | Goodbread

Alabama and Tennessee's cigar smoking tradition has become quite a spectacle, especially during football games, where numerous fans can be seen filling either Bryant-Denny Stadium or Neyland Stadium with smoke.

As former Alabama coach Nick Saban mentioned, he doesn’t smoke cigars – he chews them:

REQUIRED READING: Alabama smokes cigars again against Tennessee, and why that's more important than a game | Goodbread

The cigar tradition of Alabama and Tennessee explained

As Chase Goodbread of The Tuscaloosa News noted, the cigar-smoking tradition began in 1961 under the leadership of famed football coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant. One of his assistants, Jim Goostree, handed out cigars after the Crimson Tide defeated Tennessee 34-3 for the first time since 1954.

He later handed out cigars after victories over the Vols, and after a while Tennessee adopted the practice on its side of the rivalry as well. As Goodbread noted, Tuscaloosa-based cigar shop R&R Cigars supplies Alabama with its victory cigars – and celebrated the Crimson Tide's recent win over the Vols with joy:

For at least one more season, it looks like Alabama's softball team will experience its last taste of cigar smoke.

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