As things currently stand entering conference championship weekend, the Vanderbilt Commodores are ranked as the 14th team in the nation following a 10-2 season. The program-best record isn’t enough to have the Commodores in the playoffs, though.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has Vanderbilt at a 0.0% chance to make the 12-team tournament, which has left head coach Clark Lea frustrated.
“I don’t know a world that exists where this team doesn’t belong in that field,” Lea said on the SEC Network on Monday. “I’m learning right now about all the flaws and how we determine who’s in and who’s out. I’m very interested in fighting against any perception. I think there’s a bias against Vanderbilt.”
Vanderbilt’s expected future of missing the playoffs reportedly led the program to search for another way to showcase the team. According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Thursday, Vanderbilt has mulled the possibility of playing a 13th game this weekend to show itself off.
“Sources: No. 14 Vanderbilt explored the possibility of playing an exempt 13th game this weekend as a way to give one final showcase for the College Football Playoff,” Thamel posted to X. “There was interest from the team, the university officials, the athletic department and coaching staff.”
Thamel’s report has been backed up by other reports, too. Alaina Morris of Vandy 247 reported on Wednesday that Clark Lea stated on Tuesday that “he told his team to have their bags packed in case a team wanted to play this Saturday,” and that the same was true on Wednesday.
On3 Sports’ Chris Low also followed up on the report on Thursday.
“Clark Lea told me that he and the team were willing to do ‘anything’ to further prove they belonged in the playoff,” Low posted to X on Thursday. “AD Candice Storey Lee had been working the channels in hopes of setting up a game before the final rankings are revealed on Sunday.”
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Interestingly enough, the story made it all the way to the Kirby Smart press conference on Thursday. Smart, a two-time national champion head coach with the Georgia Bulldogs, was asked if he thought that Vanderbilt’s attempt would encourage other teams to try to play an extra game to showcase their talent after the season.
Vanderbilt is not playing for the SEC Championship this weekend; Georgia and Alabama are.
“Not sure. Probably depends on what seat you sit in, right? Everybody on the outside looking in wants another game (smiling),” Smart said on Thursday via Alabama on SI. “People would argue you had plenty of games. Everybody on the inside looking out will say, I’m good, I’ll stay right where I’m at, I’m okay, I played well enough.”
Despite Vanderbilt’s best efforts, it doesn’t look like the Commodores will be playing a 13th game before the postseason. Thamel added onto his original report on Thursday, saying, “Ultimately, the operational and legislative requirements along with last-minute scheduling constraints could not support the game.”
Vanderbilt’s fate was ultimately sealed on Tuesday night when the selection committee put Texas, a team with a worse record at 9-3, one spot above the Commodores at No. 13 in the rankings. The Longhorns defeated the Commodores by a score of 34-31 on Nov. 1, and the selection committee showed with its rankings that it favored Texas over Vanderbilt enough to put the Longhorns one spot ahead.
The final College Football Playoff Rankings, complete with the official playoff bracket, will be released this Sunday following conference championship weekend.
