“The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt.”
With this quote from former Alabama head coach Nick Saban cheekily echoing over the FirstBank Stadium loudspeakers, Vanderbilt students charged the field on Oct. 5, 2024, to celebrate their improbable 40-35 win over the then No. 1 Crimson Tide. Ecstatic fans celebrated with Clark Lea and Diego Pavia, tore out a goalpost and carried it three miles down West End Avenue to toss it in the Cumberland River. It seemed like a new energy was born in Nashville. Feverish enthusiasm for Vanderbilt sports spread across campus and infected everyone, from the football-obsessed first-years to the seniors crushed from years of disheartening football seasons.
After that fateful day, Vanderbilt football made headlines with victories over Kentucky, Ball State and Auburn. The jaw-dropping season culminated in beating Georgia Tech at the Birmingham Bowl for the Commodores’ first bowl game victory since 2013.
It was a glorious end to an unbelievable football season, and the number one question on anybody’s mind was whether this energy would continue for other Vanderbilt sports in the spring. Would students show up for Vanderbilt basketball games unprompted rather than waiting for pre-game giveaways of cowboy hats and replica jerseys?
Undeniably, the answer is clear: Sports culture at Vanderbilt will not go back to how it was before that fateful Bama win. Nowhere is this change more evident than Vanderbilt’s nail-biting 76-75 victory over Tennessee on Jan. 18.
If you were in that gym, you could feel the Memorial Magic we have all come to know and love over the years. It echoed in every “DE-FENSE” chant when the Vols had the ball and in the waves of silence when our Commodores stepped up to the free-throw line. The student section was filled to the brim, attendees negotiating with their neighbors for a spot on the creaky wooden benches so they could cheer on their team as close to the action as possible.
Fans clamored for the best view of the brightly lit court. They screamed like madmen every time coach Mark Byington’s players made a shot and jeered fanatically if a player in orange dared reach for the ball.
I’d be lying if I said the game wasn’t stressful. My blood pressure spiked each time the Vols inched closer and closer to reclaiming their lead over Vanderbilt, and I could tell the same stress radiated around my fellow students, from the die-hards to those bored on a Saturday afternoon. The stress built and built until that fateful missed Tennessee free throw, exploding into a chaotic, joy-infused court-storming that will echo on social media for years to come.
We scampered across the bleachers and leaped onto the same hardwood floor as the Commodores, jumping alongside them to celebrate this unbelievable victory and wishing the Tennessee fans goodbye in a less than sportsmanlike manner — college hoops at its finest. The astonishment across Vanderbilt fans’ faces mimicked those after the win over the Crimson Tide, down to the dropped jaws and tears streaming down their faces. Players AJ Hoggard and Jason Edwards got their Diego Pavia moment, disappearing in a sea of bewildered students, jumping up and down and screaming cries of delight.
We were ecstatic, raucous and a little bit dumbfounded. Did an unranked Vanderbilt basketball team just overthrow the No. 6 seed, and, even more improbable, was that team we beat Tennessee? This Tennessee victory briefly felt like we had, yet again, toppled the giants of the SEC and demonstrated we truly belonged in the big leagues.
Greek Row blasted “Rocky Top” to bid the Vols adieu, fans frenetically hugged one another and the wise slogan “We don’t do orange” scrolled across the jumbotron above the court. Victory shone on the face of every Commodore that exited Memorial Gym that afternoon, gleefully infecting everyone around them faster than you could say, “Anchor down.”
That game felt like, yet again, the impossible had happened. Simultaneously, however, it made this year of sports results feel more like a one-off, given how improbable the victory was. It’s tough to ignore the possibility that the campus will return to its indifferent behavior towards Vanderbilt sports come fall.
But the passion students had on their faces when we won — that wasn’t a one-off. The campus will not go back to ignoring our athletic achievements and treating its sports programs as a punchline on tours. The energy that emerged from a stellar football season will be here to stay, and it’s engulfing our other sports with it.
It’s hard to describe exactly how campus culture has changed, but you can feel it in the air, knowing the result of our basketball games is no longer reserved for the sports-obsessed student. Everyone who shares even a sliver of passion for this school is following along with Vandy sports. The university is making headlines with its sports programs, and the nation is paying attention.
Was Vanderbilt the underdog going into the matchup on Jan. 18? No doubt about it. Tennessee was projected to win from the get-go, which made sense given that they had won their last nine out of ten games against us. But going into this game, Black and Gold fans were hungry for a Bama-style victory. They believed it could happen because they saw something no SEC aficionado would ever have predicted back in October 2024: a belief in their school that won’t be fading away — not anytime soon.
Days later, I’m reminded of the famous quote by commentator Al Michaels from the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” United States hockey victory over the once-dominant Soviet Union: “Do you believe in miracles?”
To some, this Vanderbilt sports season has been just that: a miracle sent down to give us a reason to believe in this school.
I choose to think differently. I do believe in miracles, but this Tennessee win was not one. It’s a sign of what’s to come with Vandy sports, from future bowl games to tournament qualifying seasons and perhaps even a championship or two.
Alongside it, a passionate fanbase will cheer on the ‘Dores, draped in black and gold, screaming their lungs out for the school they love.
Mark. My. Words.
