Vanderbilt Commodores Bowl Projection Becoming Clear As Season Winds Down
The Vanderbilt Commodores are in the midst of the best season the program has had in a very long time, already securing their best season since 2018 and a chance to add one more win which would lock up their first winning season since 2013.
Having locked down bowl eligibility with that elusive sixth win, the picture is starting to become fairly clear for the Commodores with regards to what game they are going to be playing in coming off the tough home loss to South Carolina this past weekend. Vanderbilt has been projected by at least four different outlets to be playing in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis against various opponents. CBS Sports predicted the Commodores to face TCU, but they were far from the only one. Brett McMurphy of Action Sports also had an identical matchup in his picks.
247's picks also saw Vandy in the Liberty Bowl but facing off against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Patrick Andres of Sports Illustrated meanwhile took a similar guess but with the opponent being Cincinnati for the Commodores in Memphis.
If Vanderbilt really did end up in the Liberty Bowl as seemingly every media outlet is predicting them to do, it would just be a three-hour trip for the team to get from Nashville to Memphis. Ironically, it wouldn't be the first time the Commodores played in this game, having lost in the 2011 version of the Liberty Bowl 31-24 to Cincinnati.
It's not impossible for Vanderbilt to climb into an even more elite bowl status than the Liberty Bowl with still two games remaining against LSU and Tennessee, potentially even putting the team into the next tier behind the New Year's Six bowls with two wins, but for the moment even if the Commodores beat one of the Tigers or Volunteers, it seems virtually predetermined they will be Liberty Bowl bound.
Keep an eye on how the normally fairly accurate major bowl projections change and evolve over the coming weeks. If the Liberty Bowl stays as the consistent pick, it would be a surprise to see Vanderbilt anywhere else.
