As veteran University of Tennessee students return to campus this week and excited freshmen struggle through their initial dorm experience, many are anxiously anticipating their first home football game of the season in about four weeks. (And yes, they will squeeze classes in their busy schedules somehow.) One of the things they also have to navigate is earning enough “social credits” to actually get tickets to the games!

At UT, T-Credits are earned by students for attending various athletic and campus events, primarily to increase their chances of getting tickets to home football games, according to the University website.

Students can earn T-Credits by attending NCAA regulated games including baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball, according to UT’s student life website.

(Just a tip, you reportedly get more “points” attending less significant non-conference games rather than the big rivalry contests.)

Additionally, T-Credits can be earned by attending some campus-wide events that are academic or socially related. The more T-Credits a student accumulates, the higher their chances of being selected in the weighted lottery for football tickets. And a certain percentage of T-credits can carry over from year to year, meaning Juniors and Seniors have a better shot at football tickets than incoming Freshmen.

It’s a different process than those who depended on luck and long lines in past decades to get those precious student tickets into Neyland Stadium. But as anyone who has experienced any Big Orange Saturday on The Hill can attest, the festivities OUTSIDE the stadium rival what most colleges achieve inside their games! Getting in to see the  game is a bonus! 

So if attending a few lectures by the Chancellor or a  professor of Ancient Greek studies becomes part of the “price” of admission needed in order to heckle opposing teams, just factor that into the overall UT college experience. And try to avoid practicing your taunts by testing them on the Chancellor or other speakers. That might lead to a deduction of your accumulated T-credits!

Steve Gill is Publisher of TriStar Daily and VFL whose first experiences in Neyland Stadium were as a teen selling Cokes in the stands.