Interclass football games began early in the twentieth century. On November 18, 1915, the YMCA organized an interfraternity basketball league. In 1917 faculty, students, and coaches enlisted in the army as war was declared, and the curtailment of football and other intercollegiate athletic contests was replaced by emphasis on physical training for all students. Male students were required to take athletic training one hour per day, and collegiate and fraternity teams engaged in numerous competitive contests. Following the armistice on November 11, 1918, intramurals continued.
An extensive, formal intramural program was created in 1923, with Coach A. W. Hobt being named the first director of intramural athletics, and Jones Greer being named manager. UT is generally regarded as the first college or university in the South to initiate and sponsor an intramural sports program. The program the first year consisted of a cross-country run; intercollege, intercompany, interfraternity basketball; interfraternity and intersorority relay carnival; military Gym Kana; and foul shooting tournament. More than four hundred participants were involved in 1923.