re: How does UT match up with Michigan?

UT and A&M have far more in common than most realize. We were the first state school in the nation to have a military program, way back in 1844. We weren't forced into it by the various land-grant acts/Morrill Act. A few years later, our university's entire company along with countless regular Tennessee Volunteers would fight in the Mexican-American War.

And a little known fact: for many years every student at the university of Tennessee was expected to follow military code and every student was organized into cadet battalions and 4 companies. We were a fully functional military garrison until 1877.