It’s 2005. You say “in 20 years, Vanderbilt will play Alabama. Both teams will be ranked, Vanderbilt will be undefeated and College GameDay will be in town, with West Virginia’s punter as one of the hosts
and some guy named Theo Von is the guest picker which has Alabama fans up in arms.”
If you weren’t immediately committed, you would immediately have to explain what a YouTuber is, what is the “Manosphere,” and how somebody can call themselves a comedian and be unfunny. But I digress. This is completely uncharted territory.
(Now that I think about it, Alabama in 2005 was coached by Mike Shula. So yeah, Alabama only being a 10.5-point favorite over Vanderbilt at home would be somewhat believable.)
What say our writers?
Thomas Stephenson
What I have been reading all week seems to suggest that Alabama is still coached by Nick Saban and not Kalen DeBoer, because I’ve seen all sorts of things calling this a “revenge game” and how Vandy is giving Alabama “bulletin board material” by talking as though they think they can win this game. (Side note: if you have ever unironically used the phrase “bulletin board material,” you are an uptight prick.)
The Pick: Alabama 35, Vanderbilt 31
The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: Uhhhhh… I have this weird feeling about FLORIDA (+5.5) against Texas. Mostly because I think Texas is wildly overrated.
Andrew VU ‘04
This week is the big one. We have already knocked off The Hokies, ended The Chicken Curse, avenged the loss to Ugga State, and kept ourselves from falling into the Utah State trap full of bees. This week, though? We either cement ourselves as a top 10 team, or allow The Ramajama Gumps to elevate themselves back into playoff territory. Here’s the thing, though: there is no top of the SEC this year. Beating Ugga just means scoring on a few drives. Beating Bama again, of course, means taking their damned goal posts, walking the 250 some odd miles, and THROWING THEM INTO THE DAMNED CUMBERLAND!!!
The Pick: Vanderbilt 38, Alabama 36.
The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: Besides the Gridiron Dores? Give me CLANGA (+14.5) to take down The Milkman Cult.
Patrick Sawyer
Before the season, I would have listed the least likely wins as South Carolina and Alabama. It is lazy to talk about Vanderbilt not “sneaking up” on Alabama, but there is a revenge factor about how teams want to win games. We saw it when Clark Lea and company hung 70 on Georgia State. No, the Crimson Tide will not put up anything nearly that lopsided. It could turn a close game into a more comfortable win for Alabama IF the game swings that way.
The biggest question for the game is how Vanderbilt’s pass defense handles Ty Simpson, Ryan Williams, and the rest of the passing attack. The secondary will be the focal point. The best way to help the secondary is for DC Steve Gregory to stay creative with blitzing. Play a little safe on the back end to prevent explosives while using the pressures to either create negative plays via sacks or turnovers.
Offensively, Vanderbilt needs to do exactly what they did last year. The explosiveness of this offense has gone up significantly from 2024, too. Getting up early could really help the defense to feel comfortable taking those risks while forcing Alabama into being more aggressive.
Unfortunately, I think the winning streak ends. The record will have a blemish, but it will be a showing that tells the college football world that the Commodores do belong. All of the goals will still be ahead of them and attainable. I do have it closer than I picked in the Pick’em though.
The Pick: Vanderbilt 38, Alabama 42
The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: Upsets? This week? No. Absolutely not. None of them will be close except our game. If I wanted to waste money, I guess Florida over Texas because Arch throws a few INTs in fantasy land?
