Brant

Tempted to cherish this @VandyFootball season for what it’s been — but for a moment at least, I can’t help but lament what it SHOULD be. The committee is cutting a *generational* sports story off at its knees, right when it should be headed towards a climax. There’s simply nothing like rooting for an underdog as it sets out on an unlikely playoff run. And Vandy is an exceptional, once in a lifetime underdog story. The five foot ten JUCO transfer Heisman candidate…from the school that hasn’t won SHIT in a literal century hunting titans to try and win a title??? That’s the kind of thing as a sports fan that only comes around once. It’s hard to describe how cool this could have been. It’s hard to describe what Vanderbilt fans — and college football fans more broadly — are being deprived of. The only sports story I can think of in the last quarter century that compares is the wild card NY Giants knocking off the undefeated big bad Tom Brady-led Patriots. Vanderbilt pursuing a title against a murderer’s row of college football’s most storied programs feels like it has potential to match the spectacle of that run — except, on three thousand tons of steroids. What hurts the most — anyone who’s watched this team knows it has what it takes to compete for that dream. It DESERVES the shot. But it will never get the chance.