Comparisons Between Vanderbilt, Arkansas Are Over

Cowardice shown by Commodores embarrasses SEC, drops Vandy forever below Razorback football program

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Dec 15, 2023 11:06 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the past decade, Vanderbilt and Arkansas have been locked in a battle for the least successful programs in the SEC. Opposing fan bases referred to the Razorbacks as the Commodores of the West, and vice versa.

That ends now, and it has nothing to do with the fact Arkansas has won 20 games over the past three seasons while Vanderbilt has posted nine, only two of which are SEC wins. No. It's because of the epic show of cowardice on display this past week that has brought a black eye to the conference.

Just prior to the SEC schedule release, Vanderbilt dropped a bomb on American Athletics Conference champion SMU. The Mustangs wouldn't be rewarding all the donors who helped pay the Ponies' way into the ACC with a fun trip to Nashville for an early September game. With what appears to be no discussion at all, the Commodores simply hit the delete key and typed in @Georgia State.

That's right. Vanderbilt dropped a game with a Group of Five team transitioning to the big time so it can go on a road game against a Sun Belt school. There was no release or statement explaining why. Officials at SMU, who were obviously fuming, were completely caught off guard and appeared to have no explanation either. In another black eye to the SEC, the lack or organization or professionalism at Vandy forced the Mustangs' communications department to release a statement to its fans with no real answers.

"Yesterday evening, Vanderbilt formally notified us that they were cancelling our football series," SMU athletics director Rick Hart said in a statement. "We were looking forward to traveling to Nashville this fall and are disappointed for our team and our fans that these games will no longer take place as scheduled. We are exploring options for the 2024 season and hope to announce an opponent soon."

Surely, this had to be miscommunication. The Commodores are bad at football, but there had a be a sound, unavoidable reason. So, we called Vanderbilt assistant athletics director Brian Fremund. He was clearly annoyed at being asked about the situation.

"No," he said when asked if there was an official statement or comment. He then said football does it's own non-conference part of the schedule, so nothing had been communicated to him. Then, when asked if there was anyone else who might have a comment, statement or at least an explanation for the change, the answer, again, was a curt, "No."

Hopefully, you caught that. This was specifically a football decision. This is Clark Lea watching Preston Stone drop bomb after bomb on the offensive side of the ball while one of the nation's top defenses shut down everyone it faced. He saw No. 12 Oklahoma clinging desperately to a 14-11 lead in the fourth quarter, looked at what was left of his roster, glanced at the most recent hot seat lists, thought about the scoreboard suspended by cranes all season, then called for the delete button at the last possible second.

The message:
1) Lea desperately needs wins to save his job.
2) He has zero faith his football team can beat SMU.

Arkansas may be a basketball and baseball school, but there's no way it would tuck tail and run from an opponent. Much less a rising Group of Five team. Pittman needs wins as much as Lea, but he's not cancelling with Oklahoma State at the last second so he can haul the Razorbacks down to North Louisiana for a better chance at a win against Louisiana-Monroe.

If he did, not only should he be fired, but recruits would be wise to bail immediately. Imagine being a player on an SEC team where the coach considered the roster's skills and commitment and decided, nope, these guys are too big of a group of losers to step on the field at home against the likes of SMU.

"Right Vanderbilt who has the 5th toughest rated schedule including @Missouri, Alabama, Texas, @Auburn, @LSU, Tennessee needs to fill [SIC] some sort of shame here?" Vanderbilt fan Sea Bass wrote on Twitter in response to his team's actions. "Oh and a vastly improved Virginia Tech. Wonder what your record night look like?"

It would be a valid argument except the fact every team outside of Missouri has a tough schedule this upcoming season. The SEC just added the No. 3 and No. 12 team in the country and required every program in the conference to play one of them on top of teams like No. 4 Alabama, No. 6 Georgia, No. 9 Missouri, No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 13 LSU. That's more than half the current Top 13.

Also, that "vastly improved Virginia Tech" is a 6-6 team that squeaked into a bowl game by beating up on bad teams. The Hokies were blown out in every game they played against legitimate competition. Marshall, which finished last in the Sun Belt, beat Virginia Tech by a full touchdown.

Vanderbilt has always been the little brother everyone rushed to defend when teams outside of the conference made fun of them, or college football fans called for them to be kicked out of the SEC. So long as they held to the basic premise of running a quality communications and marketing department while sticking to the idea the SEC fears no one, all would be forgiven.

However, the Commodores have shown the heat has gotten too hot for them in the SEC. They're willing to run and hide from what, when placed in perspective of playing in this conference, is a mid-level threat at best.

Lea has simply made a desperation move that is unbecoming of an SEC team in hopes of saving his job. However, it's the one call that should actually send him to the unemployment line immediately.

Regardless of how the Arkansas season pans out next year, the word Vanderbilt should never enter a single conversation alongside the Razorback football program. They may lose eight games, but one thing they won't be are cowards.

As far conversations about getting rid of Vanderbilt in the SEC, the time for defending them is over. They're no longer everyone's beloved little brother. They broke the code, so if a push to replace them arises to bring in another private school, say Miami, then have at it. The American Athletics Conference has a spot it might need to fill.