The Sewanee Tigers were pioneers in American intercollegiate athletics and possessed the Deep South's preeminent football program in the 1890s.

Ten of their 12 opponents, including all five of their road trip victims, remain major college football powers to this day.

[3] When vice chancellor Benjamin Ficklin Finney, who had reportedly objected to Sewanee joining the SEC, left his position in 1938, the leading candidate was Alexander Guerry, a former president of the University of Chattanooga.

According to a university historian, Guerry agreed to come to Sewanee only if the school stopped awarding athletic scholarships.

Guerry's stance is sometimes credited as an early step toward the 1973 creation of NCAA Division III, which prohibits athletic scholarships.