Do Grads of other Tenn. Colleges Root for the Vols?

#1
HeavenUniversity

HeavenUniversity

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#1
I assume people connected with Division 1-A programs like Memphis and Vanderbilt don’t. Just curious if grads of other schools that are not Division 1-A in football like Belmont, ETSU, MTSU, UT South, UT Martin, Austin Peay, etc. root for and attend Vols games? Are they welcomed by Vols fans even though they have connections to other schools?
 
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#2
#2
HeavenUniversity said:
I assume people connected with Division 1-A programs like Memphis and Vanderbilt don’t. Just curious if grads of other schools that are not Division 1-A in football like Belmont, ETSU, MTSU, UT South, UT Martin, Austin Peay, etc. root for and attend Vols games? Are they welcomed even though they have connections to other schools?
Click to expand...
Huh?
Welcomed by???
 
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#4
#4
HeavenUniversity said:
I assume people connected with Division 1-A programs like Memphis and Vanderbilt don’t. Just curious if grads of other schools that are not Division 1-A in football like Belmont, ETSU, MTSU, UT South, UT Martin, Austin Peay, etc. root for and attend Vols games? Are they welcomed by Vols fans even though they have connections to other schools?
Click to expand...

How do you not know Middle Tennessee is I-A (aka FBS)?
 
#10
#10
HeavenUniversity said:
I assume people connected with Division 1-A programs like Memphis and Vanderbilt don’t. Just curious if grads of other schools that are not Division 1-A in football like Belmont, ETSU, MTSU, UT South, UT Martin, Austin Peay, etc. root for and attend Vols games? Are they welcomed by Vols fans even though they have connections to other schools?
Click to expand...
I know fans from Tennessee that attended college outside of Tennessee and are UT fans. I think the point is you don’t have to have attended UTK to be a fan and it is likely if you are from Tennessee or have lived there for a period time, you have some connection to UTK. That connection can even extend to those who have never lived in Tennessee or went to school. That’s what makes UTK special.
 
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#12
#12
I would imagine if you are not a Memphis, vandy, or out-of-state team fan, and have any connection to the state of Tennessee and fondness for college football, then you are likely a Vol.

I would also imagine if you do not have a prior allegiance to another team, and are a graduate of a University of Tennessee system school, then you are likely a fan of that schools football team if they have one and also of the Vols by association. Would be silly not to be.

If you are a fan of a non-university of Tennessee system school in the state of Tennessee, and not also a fan of Memphis/vandy or an out of state school, then I would assume you are a Tennessee fan as we are the states team overwhelmingly. Maybe there’s pockets of ole miss fans in Memphis due to proximity. Maybe some younger people like Bama in Nashville due to proximity and more importantly recently due to Nick Saban success and Tennessee dark years. But we are the states school, and the majority of this state is orange, as it should be.
 
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#14
#14
I went to grad school at Middle and most of the die hard fans (or what’s left of them - that’s another story for another day) hate UT. Mainly because UTK - along with other state institutions - have proactively sought to undermine their growth. I’ve lived in seven or eight other states and never seen another undermine its own state universities to overt benefit of another like this state does. May not be a popular opinion here but call it like I see it. Take for example the middle grand region of the state does not have a public law school. Valparaiso law school was having trouble and going to shudder it but MTSU worked out a deal where the entire law school would be transferred (reducing the overhead of having to start a new program. The vote on whether the state was going to allow it to have the law school was cast by the lone student rep on the board. You guessed it from UTK. Obviously coached to do so. A lot of the infrastructure there has been failing. For many years a new science building was number one or two on THECs list but it kept getting bumped mainly by UTK influence. These are just some of the reasons for the hate. I could go on.

Of course there are UT fans that go to MTSU because it’s easier, maybe more affordable, etc but the idea student and alumni from other in state schools just love UT is absurdly laughable. A lot of people attach bonds to the degree they hold especially if they had a good experience. I wouldn’t trade my UT experience for anything. Proud to have gone here. And I could have gone to an Ivy for grad school but who wants to hang out with those pretentious a-holes and go into that kind of debt? So I went to a place I had grad school fully paid for. And don’t second guess either of my decisions. Both schools were good for me.
 
#20
#20
Grew up in Morristown a Vol fan, attended CNC (which won two NAIA Championships while I was there) and then UT Memphis. So never attended UTK but have a degree from the University System. Nevertheless, “Rocky Top, you’ll always be home sweet home to me.”
 
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#23
#23
I root for UT and graduated MTSU. But I have (and still do) root for MTSU a lot in various sports. I was also a sports manager for a couple of semesters at MTSU, so that gave me a strong sense of pride for MTSU athletics. Of course, I grew up a Vol fan though and most of my family graduated from UTK. Neyland Stadium was the first football stadium I ever went to.

When we play each other, I'm pretty conflicted. Of course, the last when we played each other was 2011 and UT wasn't very good. I had also recently graduated. So I rooted for MTSU for that game, but I was confident UT would win easily. If we played them next year in the regular season, I would root for UT.

Should MTSU ever decide to get good, pull a Boise State and reach the playoffs and we played each other....... I would still pull for UT, assuming no family members were part of the MTSU team.
 
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