Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea told the Commodores to keep their bags packed in case the possibility arose of playing another game.
What started as a message board post about the Commodores potentially playing Miami in Hawaii to bolster its CFP resume became something that Lea explored doing. But the logistical hurdles were too much to overcome. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “operational and legislative requirements along with last-minute scheduling constraints could not support the game.”
Vanderbilt, ranked No. 14 in the CFP rankings release, won’t make it to the College Football Playoff barring something unforeseen. According to the committee chair, the Commodores were out of the top 12 due to lacking a marquee win. None of Vanderbilt’s wins came over teams ranked in the most recent CFP poll and the Commodores did not beat a team that finished better than 8-4.
“We will continue to fight,” Lea said Dec. 4. “I told them to have their bags packed. If a team calls up and wants us to take a flight to go play them on Saturday, we’re going to go play them on Saturday. That’s still true. If I have two days to prepare a team, we’ll get on a plane.”
The Commodores (10-2) will await their bowl destination, which will be announced Dec. 7.
Were Vanderbilt to schedule another game, it would be considered a regular-season game because the Commodores did not qualify for the SEC Championship Game.
NCAA rules allow a team to play a 13th regular-season game only if one of the team’s games is played in Alaska or Hawaii. Thus, the 13th game would have to be in one of these locations. Teams would have to travel to Alaska or Hawaii on short notice and pay to make the trip without getting ticket revenue from a home game.
That’s if another opponent even agreed to play Vanderbilt. Miami and Utah, two other teams ranked just outside the top 10 of the latest CFP rankings, are the only two opponents that would likely move the needle for the committee were the Commodores to win.
In 2020, BYU and Coastal Carolina, two undefeated Group of 5 teams, played a game on less than a week’s notice, capturing national attention.
The circumstances that brought about that game were mostly unique to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coastal Carolina had an opponent cancel, while BYU, then an independent, had fewer than 12 games scheduled. Thus, they were allowed to play the game on Coastal Carolina’s campus.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
