ESPN Gameday Coming to Vandy campus!

Thanks to Vanderbilt's onfield performance and a series of upsets last weekend, ESPN announced Sunday that their signature television show, College Gameday, will be broadcast from Vanderbilt campus for the first time ever!

With USC, Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin all losing and idle Vanderbilt moving up two spots in the rankings thanks to attrition, the 'Dores upcoming contest has suddenly become one of the most interesting match-ups in the country for this weekend.

The game will be No. 19 Vanderbilt taking on No. 13 Auburn. This will be the first game for Vanderbilt to be playing as a ranked team in over twenty years! The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 6pm Eastern this Saturday. Auburn is currently favored by 3.5 despite its anemic offensive production so far this season. They beat Mississippi State by a score of 3-2. Yes, 3-2! They are facing a must-win situation with the emergence of Alabama as a sudden national power and LSU continues to dominate the SEC.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt has another opportunity to prove on national television that this is not the "Same Ole Vandy" - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The pundits dubbed the 2008 season for the Commodores as a rebuilding year due to the losses of all-time SEC receiver Earl Bennett and defensive stars Goff and Williams. Yet here Vandy stands in October with a 2-0 SEC record and leading the SEC East all by itself.

As for this Vandy fan, I'm trying to just enjoy the moment and hope the national spotlight helps Coach Johnson's recruiting efforts for years to come. Like I said before the South Carolina game on ESPN last month, I just hope they keep it close and make a good game of it. You have to do that when your team has had so many heartbreaking losses. But I do believe we can win!

Here are some other facts: Vanderbilt has not been ranked for three consecutive weeks since 1956. We haven't beaten Auburn since 1955.

UPDATE: ESPN will be broadcasting from the new Commons on Peabody campus. Watch them set-up live with Vanderbilt's web cam!