Wednesday Wonder: This Year’s Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt Game Is Going to Feel and Look Different

No. 12 Tennessee has a whole lot of football to play before the Commodores come to town, but it's fair to wonder about the stakes of that game here in early October.

Credit: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

For the first time in I don’t know how long, I have wondered a lot about Tennessee’s regular-season finale against in-state foe Vanderbilt. We still have just under two months before the Commodores come to town. Still, as I watched Vanderbilt head football coach Clark Lea’s team push Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t help but wonder about the rivalry game in late November between the Volunteers and the Commodores.

Vanderbilt is 23rd in ESPN Bill Connelly’s SP+ going into Week 7 of the college football season. Better than Florida, the team Tennessee plays on the road in Gainesville the week prior. Even with their 5-0 start and No. 6 ranking in the AP Poll, Oklahoma is projected to finish 8-4, like the Commodores, in ESPN’s FPI metric. (Oddly enough, though, that same metric gives both the Sooners and the Commodores a better-percentage chance of reaching the College Football Playoff this season.) Vanderbilt is just one spot behind Oklahoma in ESPN’s FPI at No. 16 and 15, respectively. Neyland Stadium is going to be rocking for the Sooners on Nov. 1, but it will need to be rocking versus the Commodores on Nov. 29 as well.

No. 12 Tennessee still controls its College Football Playoff destiny, even after its heartbreaking loss to No. 10 Georgia in Knoxville a few weeks ago. If Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel can steal a game in Tuscaloosa or Gainesville, the Vols’ chances of reaching the CFP in back-to-back seasons are pretty high. We also thought that before the season, though. Tennessee is likely to be favored in every other game this season besides those two contests against the Crimson Tide and the Gators. They get Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, two legitimate top-15-ish teams, both at home, which could prove to be pivotal in the Vols’ quest to make it back to the CFP.

Obviously, the Sooners and their No. 2 scoring defense versus Tennessee’s No. 1 scoring offense figures to be a heavyweight fight. Tennessee has to get through that grueling affair for Florida and Vanderbilt to maintain their late-season significance for the Vols. Yes. However, let’s assume they do and have already lost at Alabama for argument’s sake. The back-to-back games to conclude the 2025 regular season for Tennessee against Florida and Vanderbilt then figure to be an all-time, stress-inducing stretch of games for Vol fans.

Terrific Tennessee Tuesday: Jesse Perry

College football fans across the country were reminded just how mercurial Florida continues to be with their overwhelming victory over Texas on Saturday afternoon. The best version of Billy Napier’s Florida Gators is still very frightening, while the worst version is still very comical. The Commodores are not that, though, and those same college football fans saw Vanderbilt give Alabama all they could handle on the road in Tuscaloosa. The Commodores have been road warriors to start this season. After trailing by 10 at halftime in their opener against Virginia Tech, Lea’s team blanked the Hokies 34-0 in the second half. They blew out South Carolina on the road in Columbia. They were perhaps a couple of red-zone miscues away from beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa.