The Commodore football team, our Vanderbilt men's Team of the Year, won the Music City Bowl.
That should in itself be enough reason to award the Vanderbilt Commodores with the crown, but many other factors are included.
In a way unlike any other on campus, the football team galvanized the spirit of the campus when they moved to 5-0 on the season with a home victory against then-13th ranked Auburn. In the days leading up to the game, ESPN's "College GameDay" came onto campus, broadcasting right outside The Commons Center. The "GameDay" crew was extremely complimentary of the Vanderbilt fans, saying that the Friday turnout for the show was the best they had ever seen.
The win on that Saturday night catapulted the Commodores to a No. 13 ranking in the country. Although it took the Commodores five more games after Auburn to reach that ever-important sixth win, they eventually beat Kentucky, making the Commodores bowl eligible for the first time since 1982.
Despite finishing the regular season with six losses in their last seven games, the Commodores managed a 4-4 conference record, and a 6-6 overall record, which pitted them in a matchup with Boston College in the Music City Bowl. The game was held at LP Field, just a few miles away from the Vanderbilt campus, so many Vanderbilt students and fans were able to attend without much trouble. Vanderbilt won the game 16-14 in thrilling fashion.
Throughout the season, the Commodores had trouble scoring, but their defense played well throughout. Unfortunately, the Commodores will lose some key players such as future first-round NFL draft pick cornerback D.J. Moore. Having such a highly drafted player will certainly help Vanderbilt's reputation, and it can be seen that Vanderbilt's on-field success has already produced dividends. The Commodores signed its best recruiting class ever this spring, full of 17 quality players.
The season as a whole was a great success despite a few bumps in the road, but this team also set the foundation for Commodore teams in the years to come.
Honorable Mentions:
Baseball
Youthful team batting .313, swept top-ranked Arkansas
Cross Country
Won the Commodore Classic in September, showed marked improvement all season long, finished 11th at SEC Championships despite being conference's lone non-scholarship team
Basketball
Another young team that won 19 games, knocked off SEC champion LSU, also beat Kentucky for fourth straight season at Memorial
