NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Clark Lea said it this week, and he wasn’t kidding — he did tell his Vanderbilt players to keep their bags packed in the event the Commodores could line up another game to try to make their case to a College Football Playoff committee that has left them out of the running for a spot.
And his boss, Vandy athletic director Candice Lee, did look into the viability and logistics of such an endeavor.
“We were looking for any and every possible way,” Lea told The Athletic.
“But there are NCAA and logistical restraints,” Lee added, confirming that she never got to the point of reaching out to a potential opponent.
As it turns out, even in a college athletics landscape with so little under control that leaders are begging for help from Washington while looking over their shoulder at what lawsuits may be coming next for them, you can’t just do anything. That includes scheduling an impromptu 13th football game in a matter of days.
Speaking of Washington, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia went that route on social media, asking President Donald Trump for an “executive order” expanding the field from 12 to 16 and allowing the Commodores to take part. Vanderbilt (10-2) was No. 14 in Tuesday’s penultimate rankings, with no way to move up before the field is set Sunday and needing to be in the top 10 to earn an at-large bid realistically.
Asked about Pavia’s attempt — at another outcome that isn’t technically feasible — Lea said this week at a news conference: “Let’s go. We’ll go anywhere and everywhere.”
Added Lea, “This is about belief in a team, and if they’re willing to listen, we’ll make our case. We have a flawed system right now. Some of this is a product of, we’ve tangled the wires too much. I’m baffled by the process, I’m baffled by the comments of the whys and the why-nots and the movement of teams up and down.
“I wake up (Wednesday) and Utah is below us and Texas is above us and I wonder what in the world is going on. So if we can have someone come in from over the top and say, ‘This is what we’re gonna do,’ at least there’s clarity in that. And if I can understand it, I can accept it. But when I don’t understand it, I’m really skeptical of what’s going on. And this team deserves to be in the Playoff and deserves to compete for the national championship.”
So what if Vanderbilt had managed to put together a game? Would there have been any takers? In theory, anyone who isn’t safely in at this point and doesn’t already have a game this week could have been talked into it — a top-15 win at this point would be an awfully nice add to the profile.
That could include No. 10 Notre Dame, which in theory might finally end up pitted against No. 12 Miami in committee deliberations — if No. 11 BYU loses to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game and removes the buffer between them — and fall behind because of the head-to-head loss to Miami. The Hurricanes should have interest, too.
Certainly, No. 13 Texas and No. 15 Utah would be compelled to jump at such an opportunity. However, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian could point out that his team already beat Vanderbilt. Also, he wants to blame the scheduling of a quality game at Ohio State for his team’s predicament rather than consider that its loss to Florida did more damage.
We’ll never know, just as we can’t say for sure how this latest round of jilted and aggrieved teams may affect the process moving forward. Lea was asked about what he would change.
“Can I just complain about it first?” he said, laughing. “And give me some time and work on the reformation?”
