A win over the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, their first bowl appearance since 2018, and their first winning season since 2013. Yeah, it’s safe to say that 2024 was quite a journey for the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The sudden nature of their turnaround was a pleasant surprise for many college football fans who had spent years feeling sorry for them, and are surely wanting them to turn the newfound momentum into something even greater in 2025.
That’s why it’s such a shame to know that they won’t.
I hate to be that guy, as I’m a sucker for underdog stories just as much as anyone else, but one look at Vandy’s schedule should remind you that lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice. In fact, things start going awry as early as the second game on it: A trip to Lane Stadium, to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Commodores first turned heads last year by beating VA Tech in Nashville, and while they had previously held a heavy advantage, they ultimately had to rely on a narrow escape in overtime. This time around, the Hokies are not only the hosting party, but they are also set to improve from being one of CFB’s biggest letdowns.
But Virginia Tech is merely the tip of the iceberg
When riding that alarming wave into the rest of Vandy’s away games, we see that it doesn’t get any easier either, as right after VT comes South Carolina (the Gamecocks disfigured you last year), then a few weeks after that? Alabama (“out for blood” would be an understatement of how violently eager they are to regroup with you).
From there, you have just about an entire month off the road before you visit the Texas Longhorns (they made the CFP semifinals and beat you last year). Last but not least, you end your slate traveling to Knoxville to take on your top rivals, the Tennessee Volunteers, who—you guessed it—made the playoffs, but only after convincingly beating you.
Okay, so 0-5 in road games alone. Now bring into play the difficult home opponents you have in LSU and Missouri, and things look even worse. Yes, you did just compete with both of those teams in enemy territory, but they nonetheless beat you, and this time you have to face them back-to-back? Sorry, but if I’m on the hunt for games where there are “comfortable” odds of a Commodore victory, I’m not looking at either of those matchups.
That leaves just five games that I didn’t mention, three of which are another installment of Vandy’s historically tight rivalry with Auburn, a rematch with a Kentucky squad that can never be counted out as long as Mark Stoops is on the sideline, and another dreaded run-in with the mighty Georgia State Panthers…okay maybe I’m just joking about that last part, but you get the idea.
The bottom line is that we have a simple question here, and the answer seems equally so. Will—not can—will Vanderbilt football keep its winning ways alive in 2025? As the iconic Magic 8 Ball would say: “Don’t count on it.”