Clark Lea is making his case for Vanderbilt to make the College Football Playoff.
On Monday night, the Commodores’ coach made a compelling case that his team deserves a spot in the playoff this year. Vanderbilt is 10-2 and went 6-2 in the SEC, and that forms most of the basis of Lea’s plea.
The only blemishes on the Commodores’ résumé came against No. 10 Alabama, 30-14, and a 34-31 loss to No. 16 Texas. The crux of Lea’s argument was that everyone in the SEC has such a tough schedule, that the teams with bad records are that way because they had to go through a gauntlet in conference.
Lea made his case using the following logic:
I don’t think that we were respected at the level we should have been respected. Like the quality of the team that we are. When you look at LSU, Missouri, and Tennessee, they finished 23-0 against unranked teams. They were 0-13 against the top 14.
Speaking specifically about LSU, they have five losses. Those losses are Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Missouri has four losses: Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Alabama. Tennessee has four losses: Vanderbilt, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Alabama. I mean, this is about a league that is the playoffs. When you play in the SEC, every week you’re in the playoffs... We have a 10-2 SEC football team. At the end of the day, in my mind, that should be enough.
His full comments are below.
Clark Lea made a really good CFP argument for Vanderbilt today.
— zach ragan (@zachTNT) December 2, 2025
I’m not a big fan of the CFP debate, because many of the arguments make sense while contradicting other arguments that make sense.
But I think Vandy is a CFP team (idk what that means for the rest of the field). pic.twitter.com/Zxywa5Hq8H
Lea is in his fifth season at Vanderbilt, and he has authored a remarkable turnaround. He was hired to coach his alma mater on December 14, 2020, and suffered through a 2-10 record in his first season. The Commodores went 5-7 in 2022, then 2-10 again in 2023. Overall in his first three seasons Vanderbilt went 9-27, and 2-22 in the SEC.
In 2024, the turnaround began. Under brash quarterback Diego Pavia, Lea’s squad went 7-6 and authored a program-defining upset victory over then-No. 1 Alabama. This season, Vanderbilt has taken the another leap.
There are only 12 available spots in the playoff. Five will go to the highest-ranked conference champions, which leaves seven at-large bids. As of now, the Commodores would be on the outside looking in.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Vanderbilt Head Coach Makes Compelling Case for College Football Playoff Inclusion.
