The Title IX lawsuit files against UT alleges the school’s process for conducting sexual assault investigations is flawed under Title IX regulations. One allegation states football coach Butch Jones called receiver Drae Bowles, No. 7 above, a “traitor” for helping an alleged victim of a sexual assault.

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Lots of smoke. But is there a fire? That is the issue at the University of Tennessee, where a Title IX lawsuit alleges the university has a “hostile sexual environment” and violates federal laws dealing with student discipline hearings for sexual assault cases, especially those involving student-athletes.

Eight unidentified women are plaintiffs in the suit. Seven of them are making allegations about UT athletes.

The lawsuit paints an ugly picture. One of the allegations is that UT football coach Butch Jones called Drae Bowles, at the time a Vols wide receiver, a “traitor to the team” for helping a woman who said she was raped by football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. Jones has denied the allegation.

Other allegations portray a system where athletes not only get the benefit of the doubt but face few consequences in cases of sexual assault. The lawsuit suggests that UT officials looked the other way as male athletes raped women and then arranged lawyers for the suspects when victims came forward.

It’s a mess. Because of that, many believe the prudent move is for UT to settle out of court at whatever cost is necessary.

Their logic: Paying up in the short term would avoid further public relations hits via the airing of dirty laundry before and during a hearing. Settling the case, while costly, would limit legal fees that come with a lengthy trial. Baylor and Florida State recently settled Title IX lawsuits.

Fair points. But I disagree. Unless UT’s attorneys determine that the university has been in violation of Title IX investigative procedures – and there is no indication the attorneys have reached that conclusion – I believe the university should defend itself in court.

This is one of those situations where perception is reality.

In the court of public opinion, you don’t settle unless you did something wrong. If UT settles, many would assume the university actually did create a culture of rape – even if the terms of the settlement included no admission of guilt.

Randolph Smith, the plaintiffs’ attorney, has argued in court filings that UT is liable because of “deliberate indifference and clearly unreasonable acts and omissions that created a hostile sexual environment to female students before a sexual assault.”

That’s a heavy burden for a university to bear. And it is one UT should not accept without a fight. If that means a long build-up to a potentially ugly trial, so be it.

It will be a long, expensive legal battle. On March 25, Volquest.com, a website that covers UT sports, reported the university had paid $26,650 in legal fees and $900 in unspecified “expenses” since Jan. 1 to the Nashville law firm Neal & Harwell.

William “Bill” Ramsey, who is representing UT, is a partner at the firm. Ramsey was hired by the university on June 18, 2015.

Once the legal meter is running, costs add up very quickly.

Even so, UT has more to lose than just money. The school’s football coach has been portrayed as a man who puts his team above all else, including the well-being of a young woman who may have been raped.

University leadership is alleged to have allowed and even nurtured an atmosphere in which sexual assault is acceptable – particularly if it involves athletes. In short, the inmates are running the asylum, according to the lawsuit.

At the heart of the civil case is the allegation that UT’s process for conducting sexual assault investigations is flawed under Title IX regulations. Under Title IX, schools that receive federal funding are required to conduct their own investigations into sexual assaults on campus. Those investigations must protect women from sexual assault.

The lawsuit alleges UT has failed to live up to the Title IX standard. The university argues otherwise.

For now, this is a one-sided story, with UT taking hit after hit with little response. There are reasons for that.

February’s awkward press conference, which featured head coaches for all UT varsity sports, wasn’t the public relations success the university intended.

-- Ap Photo/Patrick Murphy-Racey, File

For starters, that is the nature of such lawsuits. The allegations of wrongdoing provide the first wave of coverage in the media. On top of that, there is a cozy relationship between the plaintiffs’ attorneys and some in the media, which has affected the nature of the reporting, some of which has been far, far over the top.

UT has pushed back – but only slightly. In a filing in support of the university’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit or transfer the case from Nashville federal court to Knoxville, UT accused the plaintiffs of publishing “irrelevant and incorrect (if salacious) allegations intended to inflame the passions of journalists and sports fans alike.”

Jones, who has the most to lose in the case, has been relatively mum on the allegations, likely on the advice of university attorneys.

At the ill-advised press conference on Feb. 23, with coaches from all 16 UT sports appearing, Jones spoke in generalities. In a speech at Carson-Newman Football Championship Coaching Clinic in Pigeon Forge, on March 3, Jones said:

“There’s an elephant in the room, and I think you all know what we’re going through. Don’t believe everything you read and hear. I promise you that.”

Likewise, university leadership has kept public comments to a minimum. UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek finally addressed the situation in a lengthy email to students, faculty and staff on March 21.

In that email, Cheek noted the lawsuit has generated “negative publicity, particularly here and in Nashville, and all of that is very unfortunate for many of those involved and certainly for those of us who care so much about our community.”

Cheek also repeated a statement by UT’s attorney that said, in part: “… any assertion that we do not take sexual assault seriously enough is simply not true. To claim we have allowed a culture to exist contrary to our institutional commitment to providing a safe environment for our students or that we do not support those who report sexual assault is just false.”

The latter statement directly addresses a portion of the lawsuit that alleges the UT administration, athletics department and football coach “had actual notice of previous sexual assaults and rapes by football players, yet acted with deliberate indifference to the serious risks of sexual assaults and failed to take corrective actions.”

It should be noted that in each of the situations in which a football player was accused of sexual assault, Jones suspended the player from team activities.

Where will all this lead? Time will tell. Civil cases like this can drag out for a couple of years.

Considerable damage has been done to UT because of the harsh nature of the allegations. There’s a lot of smoke.

Paying an out-of-court settlement will not make those perceptions go away. The only way to do it is to confront the charges in a courtroom, not in the court of public opinion.

David Climer, who will be inducted into the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame this summer, can be reached on Twitter @DavidClimer or at [email protected].