For some reason, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter Sunday morning as it rose over Vanderbilt Stadium. For some reason, the readily available umbrellas were put back into storage that morning - after all, there would be no rain on this parade. For some reason, the giant cloud that had consumed, had haunted, had defeated Vanderbilt football for the past quarter century was forced out with the dawn of this monumental, new day. The Commodores had become bowl eligible, and what a beautiful day it was.

To put this accomplishment in perspective, one only needs to look at how far the world - let alone Commodore sports - has come in 26 years. In 1982, a gallon of gas could have been sold at the dollar store, Cal Ripken Jr. started the first of his 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games and has since been retired for seven years, and - perhaps scariest of all - two of my aunts were still in high school. Yeesh.

Even so, nothing could quite sum up the yards Vanderbilt traveled to get back on track like their program-altering performance against Kentucky. In the past, Vanderbilt would have folded, finding some fickle way to fumble the game away. In the past, Vanderbilt would have walked away the prey instead of the predator. In the past, Vanderbilt would have lost.
Saturday, however, may have been - as Zac Efron would say - the start of something new for the Commodores. Behind the jaw-dropping skills of star corner D.J. Moore, the embattled will of redshirt senior quarterback Chris Nickson and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence of coach Bobby Johnson, the Commodores can finally close the door on a much-maligned chapter in their history.

Looking back on it though, maybe we're better for it. Maybe the sourness of the past makes this accomplishment all the sweeter. Maybe the hunger for a bowl game makes this one taste all the better. Either way, this much is true:

The Vanderbilt Commodores are bowl eligible.

What a beautiful day it is.