Former UT football head coach Lane Kiffin thought any publicity was good publicity.
UT students aren't necessarily that naive.
ESPN's "College GameDay," CNN and NBC's "Today" show highlight the rash of recent national media moguls to broadcast from the UT campus.
A recent incident involving the alleged use of alcohol enemas at the Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity house prompted national media attention, including a live report by CNN's David Mattingly from Fiji Island.
"That's pretty bad publicity," Joe LaCombe, undecided freshman, said, "As much I would like it not to affect the rest of the school, it kind of does. Because when one person or one big group does something wrong, it reflects off of every other person in the group."
LaCombe said that the presence of "College GameDay" provided positive publicity, but that Tennessee's loss to Florida diminished its effect.
"Coming to this school has just been a big adrenaline rush," LaCombe said. "For all that has bounced at us, for two of the three to have gone right and for one thing to go wrong, as much as that one thing affects everyone else on campus, that's not all that bad to be two out of three."
The "Today" show broadcasted its fourth hour in front of Ayers Hall on Monday. Paul Troy, junior in history, believes that the event hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb falls into the category of positive publicity.
"I think it's good," Troy said. "They weren't tipsy. They were drinking sweet tea, which was kind of interesting. But the "Today" show, that's awesome. That's huge. I'm really excited to be here, and I think they were excited to be here. They showed with national coverage for UT, how great it is, and how great it is to be here."
Although Troy pointed to "College GameDay" as positive press for the school, he said the attention coming from the situation with PIKE is less flattering.
"It's definitely bad publicity," Troy said. "But at the same time, it can be turned into a positive because we can learn from it and help make our Greek system on campus better by implementing different tactics. I've seen a big difference in the last week, because a lot of the Greek organizations have started to step their game up and be more active in the community and doing stuff like that."
Paul wouldn't go as far as Kiffin did, but he said that having the eyes of the nation on UT is overall a positive thing.
"It's good," Troy said. "It's a university I'd want to go to because if things are happening, that means things are happening, and that's where you want to be."