Tyler Neff wore blue and gold in NCAA competition.
The former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer even wore the colors on his fingernails a time or two.
Neff, now a 30-year-old professional golfer living in Knoxville, is one of 12 participants in the Golf Channel's newest "Big Break" reality show.
The television series, taped during the fall, features Neff and 11 other male golfers competing for more than $120,000 in cash and prizes.
"For all his quirks, he is one of the most genuine kids you'd hope to know," UTC coach Mark Guhne said. "He could drive me crazy at times. He gives the show a major peronality. He will be the guy they want to have to talk about."
The winner of the competition -- to be revealed at the end of series -- will earn an exemption into a PGA Tour event, the 2015 Barbasol Championship at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
A "Meet The Players Show" will air on Jan. 26 at 10 p.m., and the show will begin on Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. Neff's inclusion in it follows other prime exposure for the UTC golf program.
Guhne's Mocs reached a No. 1 ranking in the country in 2009. Then in 2012, UTC golfer Steven Fox won the U.S. Amateur, which elevated the program to new heights.
"You don't know what it will do down the road," Guhne said of Neff's "Big Break" participation. "I don't watch it much, but I'll be watching every episode."
A news release describes this season of "Big Break" as the following: "One of the most talented and diverse casts in series history. The cast includes several collegiate All-Americans, multiple-time winners on various mini tours and an Iraq War veteran looking to become the first amputee golfer to compete on the PGA Tour."
Neff became a Moc after playing for Bearden High School in Knoxville and Cleveland State Community College.
Neff is the second former UTC golfer to appear on the show. Kip Henley, now a caddie for PGA Tour player Brian Gay, won the second edition of "Big Break" -- the season that set the series in motion, according to Golf Channel's Jay Kossoff.
"(Henley) just jumped off the page," Kossoff said in an interview last fall. "He has a down-home spirit and energy, and he's a talker, and he had a look at the time and called himself 'Kipper.' We knew he'd be really good for 'Big Break.'"
Now it's Neff.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.