It's no secret that there are established, traditional powers and a lot of people on the outside looking in when it comes to college football. Breaking through that particular glass ceiling is incredibly difficult, and doing it permanently is nearly impossible. Heck, even the traditional powers have trouble hanging on (see Nebraska).
If Vanderbilt were to ever do it, though, it would likely take a major shift to cause the upheaval needed. I think some of them are coming into place.
1. Nashville - We all know and talk about what an "it" town Nashville is, but it's becoming something more. Low taxes, low-ish crime, central location, and a red-hot job market along with a great town spirit have made it special. All this town needs is something major, like landing that second Amazon HQ, to put it over the top. Nashville could boom in a major, major way soon.
At work, we look at demographic info, and it's stunning how many people have moved into urban areas. Almost every other SEC school is in the middle of nowhere. We are already by far the coolest town of any SEC competitor, but that gap's about to widen, I contend, and it's starting to mean more.
2. Chance to win - Franklin laid a foundation and proved winning here isn't impossible. Mason's trying to show now that it's probable.
People are rooting for us now as the fun underdog come-upper. We got lots of love on ESPN yesterday pregame, and we delivered. Showing that we can live up to expectations and beat ranked teams is the difference in this team and the three Franklin teams, who always managed to get their wins diminished by someone saying "That was a down UGA/UT/whoever" and we'd move on. This win last night was different.
We get a resounding chorus of folks on here who have great points about scheduling too hard of teams. But the undeniable silver lining is that when you beat those tough teams, you get actual credit.
3. Legend - The best college teams of yore typically had some element of genius associated with them that made the players believe beyond normal reason in their ability to win. We might have that in Derek Mason's D.
He's elevated players beyond expectations (see Charles Wright for your latest example). He's put so many players in the pros (Sherman as the peak), and he has immense credibility for stopping the nation's "it" offense in the spread. He's an architect of pain, and elite recruits will want to play for that. More importantly, our teams will always believe they have a chance to win and play accordingly.
I'm not conceding the offense, and I'm not so sure that's not where we will be the most special. But the obvious choice is on D, and our general success will keep feeding the belief in Mason's overall defensive guru image. Couple that with an emerging skill in media savvy and you have the makings of a legendary coach and program.
I could keep going, talking about our clear team chemistry, Mason's evolving leadership or our academics as a recruiting tool. But I think you get my point.
I don't think we need to beat Bama this week to ascend - that would be ahead of schedule - but if we solve our running game (hint, it ain't Ralph that's broken), we could win the East. It's possible. That would be the first, greatest step.
If Vanderbilt were to ever do it, though, it would likely take a major shift to cause the upheaval needed. I think some of them are coming into place.
1. Nashville - We all know and talk about what an "it" town Nashville is, but it's becoming something more. Low taxes, low-ish crime, central location, and a red-hot job market along with a great town spirit have made it special. All this town needs is something major, like landing that second Amazon HQ, to put it over the top. Nashville could boom in a major, major way soon.
At work, we look at demographic info, and it's stunning how many people have moved into urban areas. Almost every other SEC school is in the middle of nowhere. We are already by far the coolest town of any SEC competitor, but that gap's about to widen, I contend, and it's starting to mean more.
2. Chance to win - Franklin laid a foundation and proved winning here isn't impossible. Mason's trying to show now that it's probable.
People are rooting for us now as the fun underdog come-upper. We got lots of love on ESPN yesterday pregame, and we delivered. Showing that we can live up to expectations and beat ranked teams is the difference in this team and the three Franklin teams, who always managed to get their wins diminished by someone saying "That was a down UGA/UT/whoever" and we'd move on. This win last night was different.
We get a resounding chorus of folks on here who have great points about scheduling too hard of teams. But the undeniable silver lining is that when you beat those tough teams, you get actual credit.
3. Legend - The best college teams of yore typically had some element of genius associated with them that made the players believe beyond normal reason in their ability to win. We might have that in Derek Mason's D.
He's elevated players beyond expectations (see Charles Wright for your latest example). He's put so many players in the pros (Sherman as the peak), and he has immense credibility for stopping the nation's "it" offense in the spread. He's an architect of pain, and elite recruits will want to play for that. More importantly, our teams will always believe they have a chance to win and play accordingly.
I'm not conceding the offense, and I'm not so sure that's not where we will be the most special. But the obvious choice is on D, and our general success will keep feeding the belief in Mason's overall defensive guru image. Couple that with an emerging skill in media savvy and you have the makings of a legendary coach and program.
I could keep going, talking about our clear team chemistry, Mason's evolving leadership or our academics as a recruiting tool. But I think you get my point.
I don't think we need to beat Bama this week to ascend - that would be ahead of schedule - but if we solve our running game (hint, it ain't Ralph that's broken), we could win the East. It's possible. That would be the first, greatest step.
