Though it’s widely been debunked, there are still accusations sent at Tennessee football that its home-field advantage is thanks to pumping in artificial crowd noise. Most recently, backup Kentucky tight end Mikkel Skinner made comments on the matter during a TikTok live stream.

“It was loud, but I started peeping what Tennessee was doing, though,” Skinner said. “When the fans on offense scored, when Tennessee scored on offense, the fans, that sh*t was not nearly as loud. But when we was on third down, it was loud because the speakers were pumping fake crowd noise.

“So, I’m like, okay, I see what’s going on. It’s not real. If that was real then I would respect it. But the speakers are odee, though, like I’ll give it to them. But it was just loud for hella long, and I’m like, fans cannot keep it that loud for that long. Then I peeped it, it was just speakers pumping in fake crowd noise and music at the same time. Which is smart. It’s smart, though.”

In response, Vols starting center Sam Pendleton was asked about his opinion on it. While he’s not on the field when the fans are at their loudest, he feels the effect on the sideline when trying to communicate with his coaches.

“I mean, I play there. It’s our home stadium. I sit on the sideline when our defense is on the field, and I try to hear my coach give me adjustments and stuff for the game plan and I can’t hardly hear him, and he’s a foot from my face,” Pendleton said. “If that’s fake crowd noise, I need to figure out how they’re doing that because it’s pretty impressive. I think that is just the Neyland effect. It’s the most feared college football stadium in the US for a reason. Say what you want about it, it’s an environment.”

This recent accusation is not the first to claim that Tennessee pumps in crowd noise at Neyland Stadium, but all claims have been unverified, with UT Athletic Director Danny White and others publicly denying the unbacked comments. Notably, Alabama play-by-play radio broadcaster Chris Stewart said the same during the Tides’ loss in 2024.

Tennessee won’t have the crowd at its back for its next game, though. The Vols are on the road for a matchup with Texas A&M in College Station in the hunt to keep their playoff hopes alive. Then, UT returns home to host LSU and Lane Kiffin. That game is also expected to be a raucous environment that should be as good as any in the sport.