Vanderbilt Finishes its College Football Season with a Win at Tennessee and Awaits Post Season

Historically, Vanderbilt University’s football team has been in the bottom half of the Southeastern Conference standings much more often than the top half. The Commodores have been in the SEC since 1933 but have never won a conference title. They have a 5-4-1 record in bowl games, and since posting consecutive 9-4 records with two of those bowl wins in 2012 and 2013, the Commodores have had just one winning season, which was last year (7-6 after winning the Birmingham Bowl over Georgia Tech).

But this season, Vanderbilt has risen above mediocrity, beating then #11 South Carolina, #10 LSU, and #15 Missouri. They had losses to then #10 Alabama and #20 Texas and came into the regular season finale at #19 Tennessee with a record of 9-2. Vandy has not had a lot of luck in Knoxville; the Volunteers came into the game with a 40-11-1 record home record against the Commodores, and were 81-32-5 all time in the series. Vanderbilt came into the November 29th game ranked #12 in the country, while Tennessee was #18 in the AP Poll. Still, the Volunteers were favored by 2 ½ points.

Vanderbilt was more than ready for the challenge. Quarterback Diego Pavia rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown, while passing for 2698 yards and another TD as the Commodores beat the Volunteers 45-24. Sedrick Alexander rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns despite having only 10 carries. The teams were tied at 21-21 at the half, but the Commodores outscored the Volunteers 24-3 in the second half. Vanderbilt ends the regular season with a 10-2 record, the first time the school has won 10 games in a season. Tennessee falls to 8-4.

Vanderbilt now waits to see if it will make the 12 team college football playoff, or a bowl game outside the playoff. Six bowls—Cotton, Orange, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Peach—are the quarter and semi final games of the CFP. The Commodores at this point were ranked #14 in the most recent CFP rankings (which is a separate ranking from the AP Top 25). Vanderbilt’s selection may come down to how others do in next weekend’s conference championship games.