Vanderbilt Commodores Accomplish Something Not Seen in Over Five Decades

For years the Vanderbilt Commodores football team and men’s basketball program were in the doldrums of their respective sports.

On the gridiron, they entered the year with 10 consecutive losing seasons, going winless in SEC play in three out of the last four campaigns.

A 3-5 record in conference may not seem like much, but for a program that has struggled as much as Vanderbilt has, that is a huge turnaround. Clark Lea won as many games this year in the SEC as the team had in the previous five seasons combined.

The signature win en route to them finishing above the .500 mark for the first time since 2013 was over the Alabama Crimson Tide, who were the No. 1 ranked team in the country at the time of the matchup.

It was the first time in 40 years that the Commodores had defeated the powerhouse program, as things are certainly looking up for the football program.

On the hardwood, their struggles haven’t been as bad, but things still weren’t going great.

The 2024-25 campaign was the dawn of a new era as Mark Byington, coming off a historic 2023-24 with the James Madison Dukes, was taking over as head coach for the fired Jerry Stackhouse.

Things got off to a hot start as Vanderbilt went 12-1 during their non-conference schedule. That was a big deal, even against underwhelming competition, because it was more wins than the team had in three out of five years with Stackhouse at the helm.

The Commodores still had a lot to prove entering SEC play and would have ample opportunities to demonstrate their hot start wasn’t a fluke.

They have answered that call, picking up some huge victories against top-10 teams. On Jan. 18, they defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 76-75 for their first marquee win of the year.

This past Saturday they added a second, beating the Kentucky Wildcats 74-69 to improve their overall record to 16-4 on the campaign and 4-3 in conference.

Like Lea, Byington has his players bought in and playing at a high level, as the two programs are on the rise.

How impressive have their marquee wins on the gridiron and hardwood been?

As shared by RedditCFB on X, this is the first time in 55 years that Vanderbilt has defeated the Crimson Tide in football and Wildcats in basketball in the same collegiate academic year. 1969-70 was the last time that occurred.

Vanderbilt has beaten Alabama Football and Kentucky Basketball in the same academic year for the first time since 1969-70. https://t.co/8GvezvIxG8
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 25, 2025

Those victories have been costly for the school, as they have now paid $850,000 in fines for fans storming the field and court.

The Alabama win was the first offense and cost $100,000. Defeating Tennessee was the second with a fine of $250,000 and as a third-time offenders it cost $500,000.

From this point on, any infractions will lead to another $500,000 fine being handed down by the SEC.