SEC puts an end to ‘Real UT’ debate between Tennessee and Texas

College football and athletics are the scene of some of the most unique conversations and debates of any sport. One such issue is the debate between Tennessee and Texas over who is the real UT. This type of debate is common in college sports. Both USC and South Carolina claim the acronym USC, but only one school has earned the right to claim USC.

The UT debate is a bit different: While a handful of schools use UT as an initialism, Tennessee and Texas are at the forefront of the initialism debate.

With Texas now fully in the SEC, the battle for UT is officially over, and the SEC will declare who the real UT is at SEC Media Day in Dallas, Texas.

There has been informal bickering and bickering between Tennessee and Texas for decades over who should claim the UT initials, with Tennessee being the older state, university and football program, while Texas also claims UT as the University of Texas.

Tennessee was a founding member of the SEC and has earned the nickname “UT” over the years. The SEC officially refers to the University of Tennessee as UT, while the University of Texas is referred to as “Tex” as an abbreviated initialism.

Brent Zwaaneman, who shared a screenshot from SEC Media Days on X, later pointed out that the initials go to the university with the most seniority.

Unless they meet in the SEC Championship Game, we won’t see a true UT face Texas as an SEC rival until 2026. Instead, Tennessee will face newcomer Oklahoma in 2024 and 2025 under the SEC’s new schedule format.

Either way, this will only add to the excitement surrounding an eventual matchup between the two teams. The Vols and Longhorns are familiar with each other in other sports, including men’s basketball, and have played against each other in multiple games in recent years.