4/28/2023 football Edit

Making the case for Mizzou-Vanderbilt to be permanent rivals in 3-6 model

Jarod Hamilton • PowerMizzou

Staff Writer

Earlier in the offseason we previewed what a possible schedule would look like for Missouri in 2024 and 2025 when Oklahoma and Texas join the conference next year.

In that article, we briefly touched on the teams that would likely make Mizzou’s three permanent opponents in the 3-6 model schedule.

In the 3-6 model, teams would have three conference opponents that play every year while the other six conference games would be made up of the other 12 teams on a rotating basis. This also means just three non-conference games instead of four.

We've already given cases for Missouri-Arkansas, Missouri-Oklahoma and Missouri-South Carolina.

Here, we will expand on the previous article and give a more detailed case as to why the Tigers and the Commodores should become permanent rivals.

Historical context, fan engagement and geography

Like Missouri's history with the rest of the current Southeastern Conference teams, its history with Vanderbilt is a short one since the Tigers joined the league in 2012.

Unlike the cases of Missouri being permanent rivals with Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina, the case for this matchup is more about the present and the future than the past.

A continued rivalry with Arkansas would further cement Missouri's biggest SEC rivalry.

Rekindling the Oklahoma rivalry would mean that a matchup dating back to 1902 would be alive for the first time in over a decade.

Lastly, keeping the "Mayor's Cup" around with South Carolina has the gimmick of schools that share the same city name in their respective states. More importantly, it's a divisional game that has proven to be competitive in almost every installation since Missouri joined the SEC.

In addition to Missouri-Vanderbilt not having a storied history it also doesn't have a marquee or trophy on the line the "Battle Line Rivalry," the "Tiger-Sooner Peace Pipe" or the "Mayor's Cup."

So that begs the question 一 what does a Missouri-Vanderbilt matchup have going for itself?

It has three things: proximity to each other, being SEC East foes and competitive balance (more on this in the next section).

Most rivalries are brought together due to how close teams are to each other.

Mizzou and Vandy are separated by 435 miles which is a six-hour and 20 minute drive (without stops).

It's not as close as Arkansas (221 miles/four hours and 39 minutes) but it's a little closer than a drive to Norman (514 miles/seven hours and 45 minutes) to visit the Sooners.

A significant part of rivalries is the fan bases and their ability to travel.

The only time the ability for fans to travel doesn't matter as much is in national rivalry games like Southern California-Notre Dame because those schools have much larger national fan appeal than most schools.

For Vandy fans wanting to attend a game at Faurot Field, they could, and depending on what time that game takes place (and a little bit of strategic planning) they could make a round-trip in one day. Preferably, if it's an 11 a.m. Central time start.

For Mizzou fans, it's the same idea if they wanted to take a trip to FirstBank Stadium.

However, the Commodores have the luxury of being located in Nashville which is the biggest city of any school in the SEC.

Tigers fans could make the trip to Nashville a multi-purpose one.

Commodore fans can do the same thing with Columbia.

Vanderbilt typically doesn't have many advantages over its SEC counterparts but being in Nashville is one of them, and for some fans of other teams that can factor into making the trip to FirstBank Stadium.

Since both teams reside in the same division, that's enough to create a rivalry on principle alone in most sports.

But due to the lack of parity from the top of the division to the bottom 一 residing in the same division as another team can be just that.

A familiar opponent with not much of a story behind the matchup.

Mizzou & Vandy SEC East division records and finishes

Team	2022 record	2021 record	2020 record	2019 record	2018 record
Missouri	3-5/6th	3-5/4th	5-5/3rd	3-5/T-4th*	4-4/5th
Vanderbilt	2-6/7th	0-8/7th	0-9/7th	1-7/7th	3-5/6th

*Mizzou tied for fourth with Kentucky and South Carolina in 2019, but the Tigers finished 6-6 while Kentucky finished 8-5 and South Carolina finished 4-8.

In the last few years, Missouri and Vandy have been much closer to each other in the standings than one may think.

Vanderbilt has dwelled at the bottom of the SEC East standings for some time while Missouri has flirted with the middle of the pack.

The Tigers won a couple of division titles in 2013-14 but haven't been able to break into the upper echelon of the division and stay there with consistency since then.

Since Missouri and Vandy share common space in the division standings, the matchups between the games have bigger impacts on their respective seasons.

Competitiveness and key performances

The most important reason behind this case is the competitive balance.

Games are that much better when the teams facing off against each other are equally or relatively competitive to each other.

Every now and then a school can compete with a team above its weight class but more times than not it's usually not a great thing and the expected result happens.

Case in point, the recent national title game that had Georgia beat TCU 65-7. A lot of people wanted Alabama to get in the College Football Playoff not only because they felt the Crimson Tide had a harder schedule than TCU, but because of the fear of a blowout in a CFP game.

Whether you believed TCU should've made the CFP or not is one thing, but you'd be hard press to find a non-Georgia fan who thought that game was an entertaining one.

The Tigers and Commodores are relatively in the same competitive realm or weight class, so to say and their series proves that.

Mizzou leads the series with an 8-4-1 record all-time and an 8-3 record since 2012.

Eight of the 11 contests since 2012 have been decided by 10 points or less.

A rivalry doesn't mean the teams need to have an even number of wins. Both teams winning certainly helps, but if the contests are really close and compelling that's all one can hope.

In 2013, the 4-0 Tigers went to Nashville to take on the 3-2 Commodores and routed them 51-28.

Quarterback James Franklin led the charge for the Tigers that week by completing 19 of 28 passes for 278 yards and four touchdowns.

Wide receiver L'Damian Washington was on the receiving end of two of those touchdowns and finished the day with three receptions for 86 yards and the two aforementioned touchdowns.

The 51 points would be the most points the Tigers scored versus an FBS opponent that season.

Vandy would rebound from the loss and go on to win six of its next seven to end the season 9-4 with a win over No. 15 Georgia in the process.

This would be head coach James Franklin's last season before departing for Penn State.

In 2015, the Tigers started the season 4-1 but entered the week eight matchup versus Vanderbilt at 4-3. Vandy entered the contest 2-4 but was able to score the 10-3 win over Missouri.

Vandy would connect on a 40-yard field goal with a little more than nine minutes left in the game to take a 10-3 lead.

The Tigers were able to get inside Vandy's 15-yard line on their final possession of the game but turned the ball over on downs.

Missouri would go 0 of 14 on third down, 188 total yards and have possession for just 21 minutes and 36 seconds.

At the time, it was Mizzou's third straight SEC East loss and its second straight one-possession loss. Missouri would finish the season 5-7 and miss an opportunity to compete in a bowl game.

Lastly in 2019, the No. 22 Tigers entered their matchup against the Commodores at 5-1 with their lone loss being an upset at the hands of Wyoming.

It was deja vu for the Tigers in week seven because Vandy would score the 21-14 upset win and that would mark the beginning of a five-game losing streak.

Vandy running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn would record 29 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown while also adding four receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Verdict

In short, the case for Missouri-Vanderbilt being a rivalry is the tightly contested games, being division foes and the proximity of the schools to each other.

Both teams likely want this matchup because each team probably view it as a winnable game. It just so happens to be the schools are in the same division, so the impact is two-fold.

Missouri is searching for a third rival while Vandy could possibly be looking at Kentucky, Ole Miss and Tennessee as rivals. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see if Vandy spurn an old rival in favor of making this new one.

Below, is a five-star rating system based on historical context, fan engagement and geography and competitiveness.

Historical context: 2 out of 5

Fan engagement and geography: 1.5 out of 5

Competitiveness: 3.5 out of 5

Overall: 2.5 stars out of 5