SuicideDores

Despite what he has shown this year, he wasn't even the prized QB out of the portal at Vandy. That was Nate Johnson from Utah. Pavia tagged along with Kill and company. Dude just has an intangible quality. He wants to win more than anybody on any football field any given Saturday. Let's be fair, if Freeze went out and picked up a 5-9 195 pound dude from New Mexico State (his roster height/weight are both funny), proclaiming him to be the savior of the Auburn program, the fanbase would have wanted him fired before opening day. He just doesn't look like a guy that should be playing QB in the SEC... Even for a habitual cellar-dweller in Vanderbilt. Vandy is one of the few programs where Pavia had a chance to play high-major ball... Maybe the only program, to be fair.

Dear lord this is some lazy writing. Vanderbilt scored 24 points not 17. For the love of god, it was in the first sentence. The roughing-the-passer call was a targeting call that ended up in an ejection. Questionable? Good grief. Texas's secondary got two picks, one on a tipped ball and one on a ball Pavia had to attempt to throw on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Texas's secondary was very good, but using the interceptions as a defining features is a bit much.

I hear Vanderbilt beats Alabama, bruv!

Penn State was ranked fourth last week behind Texas, Oregon, and Ohio State. Ohio State lost on a west-coast trip, Penn State won on a west-coast trip. Ohio State played the tougher team, but a loss is a loss. Georgia didn't look good, Tennessee didn't look good, Ole Miss lost... Miami was on a bye and could conceivably be ranked in the top-4, but I'd take all four of the current top-4 over Miami in a neutral-site game.

You are aware of what's around Diego Pavia, right? Sampson is a really good RB, but what Pavia has done in taking down Virginia Tech and now Alabama at Vanderbilt is a revelation. If his defense were just marginally better, he might very well be the QB of a 5-0 SEC team deserving of CFP discussion. Lost a double-OT game to Missourah and a clunker of a game against Georgia State where he was basically unstoppable in the fourth quarter, the defense was just lousy, and Lea's defensive play calls were nonsensical. I'd absolutely take Pavia over Iamaleava at this point... Pavia with Tennessee's offense doesn't lose to the Hogs. Pavia with Tennessee's offense might just win a natty.

Diego Pavia is the most influential player in college football. He's the dude who makes the biggest difference for any team he plays for. He'll never get the Heisman nod, but damn, dude doesn't need it. He thrives off the disbelief. Love Pavia, his energy, his family. He's the first guy like him in the Vanderbilt facility since James Franklin (who's Penn State team just seems to have that kind of Big Ten factor, just wining games in the background). Hoping he's rubbed off on Lea and the program. Saying this is like ULM for Saban is nuts... But Kalen at Saban.

Brutal way to lose a game... Quite frankly surprised that Cook and Burden didn't do way more damage, especially in the first half without CJ Taylor. Two weeks in a row losing on basically the last play is brutal. Love me some Pavia. Kid is just fearless. Get him rested, off-week. It's been a while since Vandy's had a competitive game with mighty Bama. Who knows, I sure as heck didn't think we'd be in OT against Missouri.

As a Vanderbilt fan, this feels pretty comparable to 2017. Opened the season beating up on MTSU and then shut out Alabama A&M. Tough, hard-earned win against a quality K-State team... And then Nifae Lealao uttered some of the dumbest post-game comments ever, basically telling Alabama we were about to show them how Vandy plays football. Bama would shut us out and out-gain us by 600 yards... It was akin to watching an NFL team play a mediocre college team. Bama O-line opening up holes through which you could drive a dump-truck. The season went, pretty much, off the rails afterward with five more blow-out losses. As a Vanderbilt fan, I have to be a glutton for punishment, but I do see a glimmer of hope with games against Auburn, Kentucky, and South Carolina still on the docket... Unfortunately they're mixed in with real CFP teams like Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, and Tennessee. Never thought I'd say I miss having Florida on the schedule.

It's also worth noting that Jonathan Vastine (our best hitter and SS) was out acutely ill, Davis Diaz was playing on one good leg, Alan Espinal went out with a knee injury in the first inning, and Jayden Davis was out there playing with a soft-ball get-up coming back from a fractured Orbit. Team was bad, but there were some extenuating circumstances, as well.

Pretty much. Can't say I'm all that surprised. The pitching was problematic all year long. JD Thompson had been very reliable late, and he gave up 8 earned runs to Coastal. Bryce Cunningham didn't look incredibly sharp all day long, but I think Corbs panicked and pulled him a bit too early. We went to back-to-back freshman (talented freshman but still), and it just fell apart. In fairness, this is the culmination of a three-year train-wreck in progress. We went 1-2 as a national seed last year and were thumped by good teams in the back-end of that schedule. We were thumped by USC, TAMU, UGA, this year. Hoover was a mirage. This team was bad. We haven't had a dude in the line-up the past two years teams were afraid to pitch to.

Everybody will be talking about the SEC favoritism with eleven teams in and five 13-17 teams making the field. I'd just like to ask how in the world the committee 1) gave Arizona a host and 2) have them as the 13th seed. Let's break it down. Arizona has an RPI of 31. They went 3-9 against Quad I teams. The didn't win a single series against a tournament team in-conference. They have one series win over a tournament team: LA Tech. They won the Pac 12 regular and tournament. They lost the real one that matters: head-to-head against Oregon State. Oregon State was a fringe-host. At least they have a winning record against Quad I teams. Even if you look at this as balancing regionals/diversity. They send DBU (who should be hosting over Arizona) 1000 miles and West Virgina 2000 miles. The Pac-12 will be gone after this year. From a baseball regional stand-point, good riddance.

Yeah, coming into the final week, I figured 13-17 would get you into the NCAA-T. However, that was predicated on my belief that multiple teams wouldn't get there. I didn't see Florida beating a red-hot Georgia team in Athens, and I figured LSU would win the series with Ole Miss, but likely, wouldn't get the sweep. If nine teams were 13-17 or better, I think that would have been enough. Florida has the most impressive collection of wins, but they also have the worst series loss getting swept by Missouri and have series losses to multiple teams in the pile-up. Alabama has the best RPI and a series win over my presumptive number 1 Tennessee, but losing a series to Auburn wasn't a great way to finish. Vandy has one of the least impressive overall resumes; however, they own wins over Florida and @LSU. LSU finished the best, but again, have the worst standing and lost a home-sets to Vandy and Florida. South Carolina seems like the team with the least momentum of any, but they did sweep Vandy and beat Florida. It's a gigantic cluster at this point. Baseball rarely should be a single game elimination sport, but it feels like losing in game one could be a post-season elimination for any of those teams. I think Alabama is the team with the best chance of survival with a loss, but they probably need LSU to lose to Georgia, as well.

"Pitches to him, unlike Vanderbilt." Seriously, if you're just going to make up garbage or not watch the games enough to make informed comments, then you shouldn't be posting articles. Vanderbilt IBB'd Cags one time on Sunday in the ninth inning of a close game we were already losing 4-2. He was walked two times total on the weekend (including the IBB). That we pitched to him all series long during his HR-stretch, allowing him to hit homers in games one and two, was a bit mind-numbing. However, in no way did Vandy not pitch to him. He grounded into two double-plays in that game-three. He had his chances to extend his HR streak and didn't.

This is so stupid. The dude got four chances to hit earlier in the game. We pitched to him all series long. On Saturday, he looked pedestrian against JD Thompson, who had him expanding the zone and way out in front of change-ups. He grounded into back-to-back double-plays. When he got the IBB, he was spewing a bunch of nasty vitriol towards the Vandy dugout. I really hope Arkansas sweeps those low-class bums and they miss the NCAA-T completely. Between guys like Cags and a first-class d-bag like Sully, couldn't happen to a worse bunch of human beings.

South Carolina is a football school? I knew I was tired last night, but I didn't think I'd sleep so hard that I'd wake up in an alternate reality...

Really fun game... That being said, kind of reminds everybody with a brain where Colorado is at... CSU got beat by Vandy two years ago... Vandy just got beat by UNLV. I don't care about rivalries, if Colorado was legit, they should have stomped CSU. The Buffs will lose 3-4 this year... A massive improvement... Let's see what happens when Coach Prime has to recruit freshman to a P5 program and keep them when they're not playing.

The only thing I can say is that at least it wasn't a loss to ETSU. Good god, our defense was terrible. The offensive line and running game were non-existent. AJ Swann has a ton of Jay Cutler in him... He can throw a 40-yard dime into coverage for a TD just as readily as he can stare a DB in the face as he throws it right to him. Clark Lea better get to work devising a plan for this team that takes the focus off Swann dropping back in the pocket, or AJ won't make it through the season. And fire Dan Jackson, immediately. His unit has been a travesty on top of his anti-semitic remarks last year.

"Vandy's pitching depth didn't look so good." Well, that's what tends to happen when your top-two starters (a 2024 first-rounder and a 2023 second-rounder) miss two straight starts (in essence), you have to run out bullpen guys, you face an elite mid-major in the mid-week, and you're missing multiple bullpen pieces that are close but not back to being game-ready, yet. Make no mistake, if the Vandyboys have a rotation of Holton, Owen, and Futrell, they'll be one of the most formidable outs in the NCAA-T. The fact they lifted a series win off South Carolina with Holton throwing 2/3 of an inning and Owen not throwing at all suggests there's a ton of depth in the pen, it's just impossible to rely on bullpen depth in the heart of SEC play week-to-week.

Maybe I have been paying attention...

I love the concept. Duke didn't completely melt-down in the first round and beat up on Oral Roberts so now, they're a favorite. Oral Roberts didn't beat a tourney team this year and got run off the court to the tune of 40 points by Houston, early. I know Abmas had a hell of a tournament two years ago, but they aren't an impressive team. Duke got the worst of the 12 seeds and weren't going to be surprised by the under-sized Abmas. For my money, I would take Purdue (who destroyed them in the OOC), Memphis, Marquette, and Tennessee (if they actually get some decent shooting) over Duke... And that's just in the East. The ACC was bad this year. Full stop.

Wouldn't say Southern Miss is much worse than Drake. It was also the second game of the season. State lost by 34 @ Tennessee. Road losses in conference play happen all the time. Arkansas lost to LSU, doesn't matter at all, and they're still living off their OOC results. Again, the resume does have a few bad losses I'm not saying State should be out, moreso that if State is in, we should be in ahead of them given the easiest of comparisons: head-to-head and conference record. Conference record should be one of THE most important factors in getting an at-large. In-conference games are big-boy basketball.

I think the NET can be useful in evaluating teams with similar records from different conferences, but an over-reliance on metrics clouds something completely transparent with a quick look at the SEC results. Vandy beat State head-to-head, finished three games ahead of them in SEC-play, had a tougher SEC-slate playing Kentucky twice instead of Missouri and Florida twice instead of Ole Miss. And Vandy made it further in the SEC Tournament. The conference slate isn't close. State has no legitimate argument to be in over Vanderbilt. I don't care what happened in December. Further, Rutgers got in over TAMU (42 NET) and other bubble teams last year. Rutgers basically had the exact same NET as Vanderbilt.

Stackhouse had the same conference record with less talent. Vanderbilt was picked below Missouri with the same conference record. Vandy was left for dead after getting eviscerated by Alabama only to win eight of their last nine. He won at Kentucky and against Mississippi State to end his season without Robbins (who was also injured during the middle of conference play as well). What am I missing?

"A humble 5-3." Well, look at the schedule. Nobody in the SEC has played anything close to the schedule Vanderbilt has thus far. TCU/Okie State/Texas in opening week. A three-game set with top-20 UCLA (which they won) last week. Mid-week losses happen to everybody, so I'm willing to overlook the loss to UCA (where they threw their Friday guy to close out a one-run win). Give us a weekend series with Charleston Southern, Western Michigan, or Delaware, and the offensive numbers would likely look a bit better. Offense will be the weak point for the Vandyboys (granted, we've eclipsed 10 runs in four of our first nine games, twice against legit NCAA-T teams), but giving up 4 total runs over the weekend to a potent UCLA offense demonstrates how dominant the arms, especially the starting rotation, can be. Maldonado, back in his late-game role, looks like one of the filthiest high-leverage/closers in the NCAA.

Oats won't suspend Miller, why would he? He's one of the few guys on the team Oats can trust to come through in a shoot-out.

Vastine showed some good ability with the bat accounting for almost all of the team's real offense, but the rest of the line-up... Ugh. The pitching staff is way too deep and too talented to be giving up eleven runs, as well. Some of that is on the coaching staff for leaving Hliboki in too long. Enrique Bradfield has to find a way to get on base for the 2-3-4 guys. Dude changes games and he was 0-fer with no free passes (even the RBI was a blooper just deep enough to score from third). I'll chalk it up to opening the season against a team good enough to make it to Omaha in what's essentially a game in their back-yard. Vandy could very well not win a game this weekend and lose it's week two set against UCLA and still develop enough to be a top-end team in the SEC. Going to have to find some offense. Granted, four runs most Fridays with a projected first-rounder in 2024 is supposed to be good enough. Hopeful to see a better performance all-around against the Pokes.

Which begs the question... Why, in this day and age of instantly available information, video feeds/camera work that rival what can be seen on the field by the naked eye, and the multi-billion dollar enterprise that is the NFL, can't officials just get these plays right with replay? That incompletion changes the entire complexion of the game. Fourth down, turnover on downs, San Francisco not immediately chasing the lead. If no official had a good enough visual to not rule this a definitive catch (which if somebody did, they should be fired), then you slow up play for 1-2 minutes, allow a replay official to review the play, and make the correct call. I'm aware of the rules, and the officials were simply following the rules, but it's almost like the NFL and other sports leagues like the NBA (where coaches get one challenge whether it's successful or not) don't want the RIGHT calls to be made, rather they want the illusion that things are being called correctly. The whole human-error in officiating is just nuts in a league worth 132 billion dollars. It's not like making games an extra 5-10 minutes longer is really changing anything. Just run more adds for Lays and Bud Light.

While the Robbins foul obviously set him over the edge, the officiating all night was horrendous. VCU basically fouling on every possession and no call. The technical foul was ludicrous by itself, but if the officials had been marginally cromulent at some time during the evening, I doubt Stack loses his mind at the call. I would not want to anger Stackhouse. I'm reminded of the Eddie Murphy line, 'he don't look like he can't fight, he look like he can whip some ass.'

This logic would work if you weren't looking at a bunch of one-loss teams. By that logic, the loser of OSU/UM shouldn't get in; okay, I agree with that. But then who does join the winner of OSU/UM, UGA, and TCU (assuming they all win out). Well, it's got to be a one-loss team. Do we put in Clemson with a horrible loss to Notre Dame? Do we put in USC who lost to Utah (cough, Florida) and haven't beaten anybody else of note? Or Tennessee whose one loss was to the best team in the country, on the road, and has two top-ten wins? I'll let you decide that one.

Okay, you do remember UT beat LSU by 27 in Baton Rouge? That performance is starting to look like the second or third-best win any team has this year behind UGA's wins over UT and Oregon.