First of all, great podcast. It's great having Will on these podcasts.
Will made a statement about the fans, something along the lines of after the first loss, how many fans (like me, since Mason) will lose interest in the season? It got me thinking......
As a 55 year old, 48 year Vanderbilt fan who's patience for terrible football is now very low (thanks Franklin and Mason), what kind of season would keep me interested for the whole season?
Looking at the schedule, I think it breaks down into four parts for me.
Part 1: Beat Hawaii and Elon. There's no excuse for any SEC team to lose to either of these teams. Lose one (or, heaven forbid, both), and I'm pretty much checked out.
Part 2: Split or better the Wake Forrest and Northern Illinois games. If we're 2-0 heading into these games, a split should be the worst outcome. If we come out of these first four games 2-2, it's not the end of the world, but we’re probably looking hard at another 2-10 season. I won't totally check out at that point, but I won't be scheduling my Saturdays around Vanderbilt football games, either.
Part 3: Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia. I mean, seriously, even if we roll into this stretch 4-0, we are coming out of it 4-3. Yeah, I know, under normal circumstances, Ole Miss might be a winnable game. But, Bama has a way of beating teams up so bad that it effects their next game. I don't even think the bye week will help recover from that.
Part 4: The remainder of the schedule. If we hit this part of the schedule 4-3 or 3-4, I'm in for the remainder of the season. We at that point will have shown significant progress to have gotten to that point, and should have a decent chance to win one or two of the remaing five games, except for, maybe Florida, who I personally think is going to be better than people think.
Not sure how many others will be like me, @Chris Lee and Will, but I thought when Will brought this up in the podcast, that it was interesting enough to start a thread and see what others think.
Will made a statement about the fans, something along the lines of after the first loss, how many fans (like me, since Mason) will lose interest in the season? It got me thinking......
As a 55 year old, 48 year Vanderbilt fan who's patience for terrible football is now very low (thanks Franklin and Mason), what kind of season would keep me interested for the whole season?
Looking at the schedule, I think it breaks down into four parts for me.
Part 1: Beat Hawaii and Elon. There's no excuse for any SEC team to lose to either of these teams. Lose one (or, heaven forbid, both), and I'm pretty much checked out.
Part 2: Split or better the Wake Forrest and Northern Illinois games. If we're 2-0 heading into these games, a split should be the worst outcome. If we come out of these first four games 2-2, it's not the end of the world, but we’re probably looking hard at another 2-10 season. I won't totally check out at that point, but I won't be scheduling my Saturdays around Vanderbilt football games, either.
Part 3: Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia. I mean, seriously, even if we roll into this stretch 4-0, we are coming out of it 4-3. Yeah, I know, under normal circumstances, Ole Miss might be a winnable game. But, Bama has a way of beating teams up so bad that it effects their next game. I don't even think the bye week will help recover from that.
Part 4: The remainder of the schedule. If we hit this part of the schedule 4-3 or 3-4, I'm in for the remainder of the season. We at that point will have shown significant progress to have gotten to that point, and should have a decent chance to win one or two of the remaing five games, except for, maybe Florida, who I personally think is going to be better than people think.
Not sure how many others will be like me, @Chris Lee and Will, but I thought when Will brought this up in the podcast, that it was interesting enough to start a thread and see what others think.
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