Cinderella Commodores in Top 25 for First Time Since '13

© Denny Simmons/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Vanderbilt Commodores (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) have sailed into rarely charted waters. On the heels of their 40-35 upset victory over Alabama (5-2, 2-2), the program's first-ever win over a top-five team, the perennial SEC cellar-dwellers have become contenders in one of college football’s two toughest conferences.

Vandy has cracked into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013, snapping the second-longest slump among power conference teams. Rutgers (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten Conference) has not been ranked since 2012.

Vanderbilt Strategy for Success

In a rare strategy, Vanderbilt plundered the foundation of a small university’s talented program. It picked up both coaches and players. The Commodores hoped those players and the chips planted firmly on their shoulders would build a team that seemed to want it more. It did, at least so far. The NFL breeding ground that is the Southeastern Conference has also given those transfers a strong determination to succeed. Drive, determination and players with nothing to lose is a dangerous combination if your are a Vanderbilt opponent down the stretch.

Foundation for Commodores

Vanderbilt snatched up the best that New Mexico State (2-5, 1-3 Conference USA) had to offer last year after the Aggies finished 10-5, second only to Liberty (5-1, 3-1) in C-USA. Former Aggies now with the Commodores include quarterback Diego Pavia and members of the coaching staff. Pavia has become the face of the Transfer Portal with 1,391 passing yards, 11 TD with only 1 interception and a 79.8 quarterback rating in the Commodores' run to the Top 25.

The Oct. 26 matchup against the No. 6 Texas Longhorns (6-1, 2-1 SEC) will be the first top-25 matchup at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., since 2008. Vanderbilt has played football for 121 seasons from 1902 to 2024. In that time, the team has an overall losing record at 561-644-43 and has never been ranked in the Top 25 during the preseason. It has finished the season ranked only three times.

The Commodores have been ranked 32 total times total over the years. Besides this season, Vanderbilt was ranked most recently in 2012 and 2013 when the team was ranked No. 24 and No. 23, respectively. In 1937, the team was ranked seventh. In the modern era, the highest that Vanderbilt has been ranked was at No. 13 in 2008, when the team won the Compass Bowl in January 2014.

© Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Commodores Making History

Vanderbilt is making a historic run in the SEC. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban once said FirstBank Stadium is the only building in the SEC where the home team doesn’t have an advantage. If the Commodores continue their momentum this season, keep climbing up the polls, and keep winning, Nashville will be more than a speed bump on the path to a national championship.

In a season when the top 12 teams make the championship tournament, the Commodores are making a Cinderella run that may be one of the greatest sports stories ever told.