Students report drinking for social reasons, yet the social benefits of alcohol use are less understood. Associations between social drinking motives, drinking behaviors, and college friendships were examined via in-person interviews with 72 college freshmen from a large Mid-western University. Consistent with previous research, social drinking motives were significantly associated with drinking behaviors; however, drinking behaviors were not associated with the number of new casual or close friends students made at college. Drinking prevention campaigns might incorporate these findings in an effort to alter college freshmen's social alcohol expectancies.