How the Vanderbilt Commodores proved they could be on the rise

The Vanderbilt Commodores have demolished the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, and while it may sound insignificant, it certainly isn’t.

On Saturday night, the Vanderbilt Commodores completely ripped the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors apart by a shocking score of 63-10, and while there is a mismatch in the size of their programs, we should not ignore just how much that could mean.

Sure, looking at this matchup on paper showed nothing more than an SEC team opening up their season with a Group of 5 pushover in hopes of getting things cooking on a comfortable note. However, applying context from last year paints the outcome of this meeting to be all the more surprising.

What does this win mean for Vanderbilt football?

In 2021, the Commodores went 2-10, being the only team in the Southeastern Conference to not make a bowl game–and considering that their two wins were nail-biters over the horrible Colorado State Rams and even more horrible UConn Huskies, they weren’t even close to making one (and let’s not touch on that horrendous loss to East Tennessee State).

As for Hawaii, despite it being seen as some everyday “little fish” program, it was at least able to hit bowl status. And, on its way to doing so, it: upset the 10-win Fresno State Bulldogs, beat CSU by more than Vandy did, and won convincingly against a bowl-worthy Wyoming on the road.

But through all of this, Vanderbilt was still favored by two scores (with ESPN–at least at one point on Saturday–showing a spread as high as -9.5).

This was a move that I, personally, was very displeased with, as the previously-established comparison of their 2021 runs shows no clear reason as to why the Commodores should receive any nod at all, much less one as large as two scores.

My original takeaway from the entire situation was that it was yet another installment of “SEC bias,” as the clout stuck to that league never fails to show itself on a regular basis. But, in hindsight, I can’t help but think that there was perhaps something I had missed.

Just to give an idea as to how badly Vandy beat the living snot out of the Rainbow Warriors, the following games were decided by closer margins of victory: Duquesne @ Florida State (40), UConn @ Utah State (11), Wyoming @ Illinois (32), and Florida A&M @ North Carolina (32).

In other words, the Commodores looked mightier against Hawaii than bigger and/or better programs did against equally small if not smaller opponents, and that is exactly how an SEC team is supposed to operate.

The aforementioned bias towards the Southeastern Conference does exist, and it can definitely be frustrating to witness in action. However, it came to be for a reason that exceeded the powers of often-blamed factors such as branding and regional interest–success is a standard set by nothing other than the league itself.

But while the majority of the SEC’s teams have played direct roles in the development of its reputation over time, the Vanderbilt Commodores are one of the few that hasn’t. A few more wins like this, though, could be a solid start in changing that.