Where Vanderbilt Football Ranks in the Penultimate CFP Rankings

Vanderbilt football found out its probable postseason fate Tuesday night.

Vanderbilt cornerback Jordan Matthews (6) celebrates with fans the team’s win against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With just conference championship week remaining, the College Football Playoff committee released its second to last playoff rankings list before the final one that will come on Sunday, where the official 12-team bracket will be set and the rest of the bowl game schedule will be released throughout the day.

A week ago, Vanderbilt found itself disappointed that it did not move up any spots despite coming off a dominant home win over Kentucky. The rankings a week ago proved it was going to be an uphill battle for the Commodores even with a win on rivalry week.  But Vanderbilt dominated its in-state rival Tennessee 45-24 Saturday as the nation’s top offense pulled away in the second half. It was certainly a statement win, but would it be enough to jump a few teams?

In the penultimate rankings, the committee stayed ranked Vanderbilt No. 14 in the poll. Vanderbilt is behind No. 13 Texas and No. 12 Miami, but is ahead of No. 15 Utah, No. 16 USC and No. 17 Virginia. The cut line for the playoff bracket is almost certainly going to be between the No. 10 and No. 11 spots. Because Vanderbilt did not jump enough teams, its playoff hopes are more than likely over barring an unforeseen change of heart from the committee members.

"The committee has a great deal of respect for Vanderbilt and what they have achieved, an amazing season, a 10-win season. When you look at their schedule, now that Tennessee is no longer ranked, they just don't have a signature win," CFP selection committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said. "They've got wins against LSU, Missouri and Tennessee. Missouri and Tennessee were previously ranked in our poll. They are no longer ranked in our poll.

"Then the two ranked teams that Vanderbilt has played, Alabama and Texas, I think both of those games in their own way were a little bit different. The Alabama game is probably a little bit closer than the score indicates, and the Texas game was probably closer than the score actually indicates because if you remember, Texas was up in that game 34-10. I think it's just lacking that signature win or two that teams like a Texas and a Miami, Utah, teams above them have."

When asked specifically about the win at Tennessee, Yurachek said: "I think it's what happened around Vanderbilt this week with Texas also getting a win against Texas A&M who's ranked third, Miami getting a win at a ranked Pittsburgh team, BYU winning against Central Florida. It's not that we didn't want to reward Vanderbilt for this win, but there's some things that happened in and around the teams that they are ranked with that really kept them in that 14th spot. "

In short, Vanderbilt just did not get enough help down the stretch of the season. It seemed that in just about every game that the Commodores needed to go their way, it never did. There were teams such as Oklahoma, who escaped LSU 17-13 and needed a fourth down stop in the final minute to beat the Tigers. An Oklahoma loss would have helped Vanderbilt there. BYU was down 14-0 against UCF, but came back to win convincingly.

Vanderbilt has a better strength of record (SOR) than teams ahead of them. The Commodores have the 11th-best SOR compared to Notre Dame’s 13th SOR and Miami’s 14th SOR. But despite going 10-2 and 6-2 in the SEC, it was not enough in the eyes of the committee. The Commodores achieved its first season in program history with 10 wins, but it happened in a year where the bubble for the playoffs was filled with too many teams with one or two losses. The Texas loss for Vanderbilt ended up being catastrophic.

“If the CFP committee would take blind resumes, our team would benefit from that exercise. This is not about narratives and stories, it's about the data.”

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea

Vanderbilt will now await its bowl game destination. The bowl matchups will be announced throughout the afternoon on Sunday. The playoff bracket will be revealed at 11 a.m. CT with the bowl game announcements to be followed in the hours following. With a 10-2 record in the SEC, Vanderbilt is a strong candidate for the Citrus Bowl or the ReliaQuest Bowl, both of which are on Dec. 31.