I'm Back!

Wow. I just checked my own blog and can't believe I haven't updated this since before the Music City Bowl. I was there with my whole family, including my parents (Dad is a Vandy alum too). It was an incredible experience and was amazed we actually won the game. I was happy about just going to a bowl.

Well, after a long summer, Commodore football is back! We beat Western Carolina at home to the tune of 45-0. It was our first shut-out in ten years. It was great to see freshman QB Smith have a decent game and that our defense was such a force. I'm a little nervous about our new kicker, freshman Fowler, since he missed two make-able field goals. We can't afford that against SEC teams!

Still, it was a great way to start the season. It is going to be a grueling one since we are the only SEC team, and one of only 15 teams in 1-A football, to not have a bye week. At first I thought this was part of the SEC old-boy network, but having read this article, I see that it was just a poor job by our athletic department. C'mon guys!!!

It's Official - Vandy v. Boston College in Music City Bowl

Hot off the presses!

Did I say Liberty? I mean't Music City!

Okay, mark me down for one mistake at least. I forgot about Kentucky!

With only eight SEC teams qualified for the post season and one SEC practically assured of playing for the national title (I still think there is a risk Florida won't make it with a victory over Alabama but I hope I'm wrong), the Memphis Liberty Bowl and the Nashville Music Bowl will be select from the last two SEC teams.

Each of these two bowls submit their list of preferences and the SEC decides who will go where. If The principal motivating factor for a bowl is to make money, which means selling tickets and hotel rooms. Kentucky has a large and proven fan base and has played in the Music City Bowl for the last two years in a row. Vanderbilt is the smallest school in the SEC and hasn't been to a bowl in 26 years. In other words, smaller fan base and unknown post-season turnout.

I would expect the Liberty folks and the SEC to want Kentucky to go Memphis. It would be a new venue for Kentucky fans to visit while still close to its home state (important in these tough economic times!).

The Nashville media's take is that a Music City bowl bid is a bad thing for Vanderbilt and Nashville. I completely disagree for the following reasons:

• It's a Vanderbilt bowl - The old adage of beggars can't be choosers applies here. I'd be happy with the Joe the Plumber Bowl. I think most Vandy fans are just excited its happening at all.
  
• Vandy alumni are nationwide & global - I don't have the statistics handy, but its safe to say that Vanderbilt has the lowest percentage of local state residents of any SEC school. This means more hotel rooms sold to visiting Vandy fans.
  
• Tough economic times - With the financial markets in turmoil, home foreclosures, and massive layoffs, people don't have as much (if any) disposable income, especially this time of year of gift giving. So the college bowls are also facing the same beggars can't be choosers adage. One has to ask the question if a more distant school is selected that enough people would travel to make a difference for hotel rooms.
  
• Grow the local fan base - If Vanderbilt is going to grow its fan base, it will have to win over Middle Tennessee. Many UT fans are also part-time Vandy fans. But the last twenty years has produced little on the field for these fans to get excited about. With UT down and changing coaches, Vandy has a great opportunity to enthuse these part-time fans over the coming seasons. A local bowl game will help that.
  
• Other bowls are doing it - Even with only a few bowl announcements prior to this final weekend of games, we already know that Rice will be at home in Houston for the Texas Bowl and Georgia Tech will be playing in the Chick-Fil-A bowl which is less than three miles from their own campus!

Vandy #26!

The 'Dores received 63 votes last week in the Associated Press poll, which is the most for any team outside of the top 25. This was thanks to a 3-0 start after beating Rice this past weekend. We haven't been ranked since 1984 when we reached 19th place.

If we can get a victory over Ole Miss this coming weekend, we should hopefully make the top 25. Of course, nothing should ever be taken for granted as a Vanderbilt fan. But all we need is a chance...

Oh, and how about Jay Cutler throwing a TD and making the 2-point conversion to beat San Diego and take the Broncos to 2-0 yesterday?!

Another Vandy Football Season

It is not easy being a Vanderbilt football fan. While my wife prepares to see her Georgia Bulldogs defend their number one preseason ranking and some of my in-laws wonder if their Florida Gators can get another championship and it Tebow can repeat as the Heisman trophy, I wonder if this will finally be the season where we get to a bowl game.

It has now been over a quarter of a century since the 1982 Hall of Fame bowl. The good news is that we've been closer than ever under Coach Bobby Johnson. In 2007 we were only one play away from beating both Georgia and Tennessee. I'd say that is pretty darn impressive for a small private school going up against tax-payer funded powerhouses of the SEC. Each of the past three season have had a signature upset win: at South Carolina in 2007, at Georgia in 2006, and at Tennessee in 2005.

Unfortunately, 2008 will be a rebuilding year for my Commodores. We lost SEC star WR Earl Bennett to the NFL draft (selected in the third round by Chicago) along with other defensive players. We also don't have a definitive starting quarterback since neither Nickson nor Adams won the job permanently last season.

Also, the schedule will be tougher this year. I would expect wins against Rice and Duke, and possible victories against Miami (OH) and maybe Ole Miss. After that things get more dicey with Mississippi State (who went to a bowl last season) and perhaps Kentucky or Wake Forest. I'll be happy with a four win season or a signature upset win, such as against Auburn (we haven't beaten them since 1955) or Florida (last win 1988) or Tennessee (how sweet that victory would be).

I also hope that DB D.J. Moore, first team all-SEC, will have an outstanding season. The experts say we have one of the best secondaries in the country (our defense was ranked 16th nationally last year). It would be nice of that could continue. The key to our future is to continue having Vandy players drafted in early rounds of the NFL. Cutler and Williams going in the first round over past three seasons has certainly helped our visibility!