Vols Fans 399% Trashier Than Vandy (But They're Not as Trashy as Auburn)

The results are in, and UT fans are 3.99 times trashier than Vanderbilt fans. 

That's according to the just-released data from the EPA's Game Day Challenge, which found that Vanderbilt fans generate the least waste, per capita, of any SEC football fans - just an average 0.170 pounds per person. Vols fans created an average 0.679 pounds each - sixth in the conference. 

And while Auburn might be cleaning up on the field, their fans certainly aren't. According to the EPA stats, the school has the worst record in the SEC - averaging a whopping 1.664 pounds of waste for each person attending a game. Auburn fans were also the worst at keeping that waste out of the landfill. More than 94 percent of it ended up in the trash, compared to about 70 percent for Tennessee and 71 percent for Vanderbilt. 

In fact, Auburn was 73rd out of the 75 schools across the country who participated in the contest - in both categories. Only Illinois State and the University of Central Oklahoma generated more waste per person, and only Western Kentucky and Kansas State recycled less of that waste. (UT was in the middle of both rankings nationally.)

Florida fans generated the second-least amount of trash in the SEC (0.342 pounds), followed by Georgia in third place (0.526 pounds). LSU fans were the second-worst, averaging 1.447 pounds each. Mississippi State, Ole Miss and South Carolina did not participate in the program. (The first two maybe because you can't recycle glass in either Starkville or Oxford? Just a guess...)

I know you're probably thinking, "But no one GOES to Vandy football games! Of course they generate less trash!" However, the EPA's calculation is a per-capita one, dividing the total amount of trash and total amount of recyclables by the total attendance. Of course, there are probably more Tennessee tailgaters with more elaborate feasts that then end up in the trash than at Vanderbilt. And the EPA's Game Day Challenge is only based on the waste from one home game. Yet both the UT and Vandy games that the measurements came from - versus Alabama and South Carolina, respectively - were night games, which one would think would be more likely to generate more trash, whatever the school.

But UT fans can take solace. They were the only SEC school to compost any of their waste. And their sister school in West Tennessee, UT-Martin? Why they have the least trashy fans in the entire country, tied with Ithaca College at just .078 pounds per person.