Vanderbilt Commodores Bowl Game Projection Keeps Them Close to Home

Now that the Vanderbilt Commodores are bowl-eligible, it’s possible start planning for a late December football game.

Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea argues a call as Auburn Tigers take on Vanderbilt Commodores at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Auburn Tigers and Vanderbilt Commodores are tied 7-7 at halftime. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Vanderbilt Commodores are now bowl-eligible for the first time since 2018 and CBS Sports is projecting they’ll play in a bowl game close to home.

CBS updated its projections on Sunday morning and has the Commodores (6-3, 3-2 in SEC) heading for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis against Baylor.

This will be the first bowl game for Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea, the former Commodores fullback who returned to take over the program before the 2021 season. This will be Vandy’s first bowl appearance since the 2018 season, when Derek Mason led the Commodores to the Texas Bowl where they faced, oddly enough, Baylor.

Vanderbilt has a 4-4-1 record in bowl games. Entering this week’s action nine SEC teams are bowl-eligible.

Lea, most recently the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, has worked nearly four seasons to get Vanderbilt in this position. After a 2-10 debut in 2021, he and the Commodores fell one win short of bowl eligibility with a 5-7 record. Last season Vanderbilt fell back to 2-10 and went winless in SEC play for the second time in three seasons.

The Commodores now hope to finish the season with a winning record for the first time since the 2013 season when they finished 9-3 in 2013 for the second straight season. Even though Vanderbilt has been to two bowl games since that 2013 season, it finished both of those seasons 6-7 after the bowl game loss.

The Commodores returned to the AP Top 25 this week with a No. xx ranking after beating Auburn, 17-7, at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Vanderbilt has three regular-season games remaining. After they host South Carolina on Saturday, the Commodores get a week off. Then, Vanderbilt wraps up the season against two ranked SEC powers — at LSU on Nov. 23 and at home against in-state rival Tennessee on Nov. 30.

Vanderbilt’s bowl game history dates back to 1955 at the Gator Bowl, where the Commodores faced Auburn and won, 25-13. Vandy played just two more bowl games in the 20th century — the 1974 Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the 1982 Hall of Fame Classic.

Coach Bobby Johnson led the Commodores to the 2008 Music City Bowl, while James Franklin led the program to three straight bowl games from 2011-13. Mason took Vanderbilt to two bowl games in a three-season period.