Where Vanderbilt Football Ranks in the Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

Vanderbilt football was resting last week. Here is where the Commodores stand in the playoff race now.

Nov 8, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) does the Heisman pose with a fan against the Auburn Tigers during the overtime period at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Another week of college football is in the book as there are only two more weeks left in the college football regular season before conference championship week. There was not a ton of change in top of the playoff rankings a week ago, but Vanderbilt was helped by ACC teams losing. This week, things did change.

This past weekend of college football did not completely go the way Vanderbilt wanted it to. While the Commodores were on a bye and stayed put on their 8-2 record. As a result the Commodores are still ranked No. 14 in the third release of the College Football Playoff Rankings. The teams ahead of Vanderbilt are No. 13 Miami, No. 12 Utah and No. 11 BYU. The teams right behind it are No 15 USC and No. 16 Georgia Tech.

There were three games that ultimately hurt Vanderbilt’s playoff probability.

Notre Dame went to Pittsburgh and got a convincing win to stay alive in the race as well as staying in the playoff bracket. Saturday night, Utah went to Baylor and crushed the Bears to stay ahead of Vanderbilt. But the game Vanderbilt needed the most did not happen. Oklahoma went to Tuscaloosa against Alabama and took the Crimson Tide down 23-21 to get to 8-2 on the season. It was a result that not only hurt Vanderbilt’s chances, but affected the entire playoff picture.

If Oklahoma lost the game, it would have been 7-3 and had its playoff chances wiped out more than likely. Instead, the Sooners put a huge win on the resume and stayed ahead of Vanderbilt. 

What did go right for Vanderbilt, however, was Texas losing at Georgia. With the loss, Texas fell to 7-3 and fell to rank No. 17. Now, Texas is more than likely out of the race even with a win against Texas A&M at the end of the month barring some unforeseen chaos.

Vanderbilt needs to first and foremost focus on finishing the regular season strong, starting with Kentucky at home this weekend and ending with a road trip to Tennessee the weekend after. A third loss all but eliminates Vanderbilt from the playoff conversation. If Vanderbilt were to win out, it would do all that it can in terms of its case to the playoff committee, and force the committee members to leave out a 10-2 team from the SEC.

Outside of that, Vanderbilt just needs to watch what happens around them. Something that is not good for Vanderbilt is the remaining schedules for the teams in front of it. Oklahoma finishes the season with two home games against Missouri and LSU, who are both unranked. Notre Dame finishes the year home against Syracuse and at Stanford while. Utah ends with Kansas State and Kansas, two favorable games for the Utes. Alabama ends with Eastern Illinois at home and Auburn on the road, which is a very dangerous game.

The question becomes how much the committee would weigh Vanderbilt’s win at Tennessee if it were to win out. Would that be enough to add to the resume and jump a team fighting for the last spot? Only time will tell. For now, all the Commodores can do is win and control what they can control.