Vanderbilt Commodores Assigned Early Bowl Game in Latest Projections
The Vanderbilt Commodores did not close out the 2024 regular season how they wanted to, but they have a chance to bring back some momentum with their first bowl game in years.
Clark Lea was able to lead the Commodores to a 3-1 record out of conference before they had a couple of close SEC wins and a massive upset over the Alabama Crimson Tide. They did lose four of their last five games, but that one win was enough to secure bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018.
Brett McMurphy, senior analyst for Action Network, is one of the top resources for bowl game information.
In his latest projections, he has Vanderbilt taking on the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.
The Gasaparilla Bowl has tie-ins with either the AAC, ACC or SEC.
It is also one of the earlier bowl games, taking place on Dec. 20.
While it may not be the most prestigious of games to be awarded, a win over the Panthers would be a great way for Lea to close this season out for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt's performance should be considered a massive success, no matter what. They earned their first AP Poll ranking since 2013. That was also the last time they won a bowl game.
There will be heavy expectations for Lea and the program next year, which will be his fifth in Nashville.
He got close to a bowl appearance in 2022, but bottomed out once again the season after.
Being able to string good campaigns together has not been a strength of the Commodores in recent history.
They have finished with a winning percentage above .500 just six times in the past 50 years. Those seasons were back-to-back just twice.
It will be hard to do so at Vanderbilt for Lea, but it could happen if he can get some buy-in from donors and some interest in the transfer portal.
They will have to replace top players like quarterback Diego Pavia and star tight end Eli Stowers, and Jerry Kill is becoming a growing head coach candidate once again.
To finish above .500, they will have to do it with a bowl win.
In addition to McMurphy projecting Vanderbilt to be in the Gasparilla Bowl against Pittsburgh, he also named the Commodores an early 1.5-point favorite.
Similar to Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh had a nightmare finish to 2024.
They lost five straight games to end the year.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders