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The Vanderbilt football team will not compete for a national title in 2025. Despite going 10-2 in the regular season, the Commodores were on the outside looking in come playoff selection time.
Starting quarterback Diego Pavia believes his team was deserving of an at-large bid. He dismissed a pair of G5 teams championship hunt with a disrespectful wager.
Pavia and the ‘Dores have been one of college football’s great stories this year. A usual SEC doormat, the program found itself in the conference title race up through November.
Their Heisman hopeful is a big reason why. Since arriving to campus, Pavia’s posted a 17-8 overall record. For reference, the Commodores had won just 12 games combined in the five seasons that preceded his entry into the lineup.
The 10-win output is the best in Vanderbilt football history. They have been rewarded with a trip to the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Diego Pavia will not be a national champion.
His team was left out of the 12-team field. Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea took accountability for that omission.
“That’s no one’s fault except our own,” the Vanderbilt football coach said. “We had our opportunities, and we didn’t do enough. We are not victims in this process. Our ownership is in coming up short…
“We’re going to celebrate the h— out of going and playing in Tampa.”
-Clark Lea
He refused to blame the selection committee for his team’s absence. The Commodores didn’t do enough on the field.
With that being said, he may not necessarily agree with the selection criteria. Most notably, those linked to automatic qualifiers.
Five conference champions make the field each and every year. In most cases, that means the four P4 champs and one G5 contender. Seven at-large bids are then doled out.
In 2024, Boise State snatched the G5 spot while ACC, B1G, Big XII, and SEC winners booked tickets. This year was different.
The ACC champion, Duke, went 8-5. They were not ranked in the final CFP Top 25. They did not receive an automatic bid.
Instead, the two highest G5 champs were allowed in, following those preset guidelines. The ACC’s most highly ranked team, Miami, then snatched up an at-large bid. As a result, Vanderbilt’s playoff opportunity decreased.
James Madison and Tulane will compete for a national championship despite being ranked well behind the Commodores. Diego Pavia does not agree.
The Vanderbilt football star dismissed G5 schools.
“If you took all the labels off of all the teams in the playoff, it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “They’d select us, no problem. Because we’re Vanderbilt, they still think of the old Vanderbilt… They don’t want to take us because, in a sense, we’re not big enough…
“You line us up against anybody, we’re the hottest team right now… It’s a 12-team playoff. Put in every team that’s good. These G5 teams… If a G5 team wins it, I would donate whatever I got in NIL back to that team.”
Pavia is not confident in Tulane or James Madison. He is willing to put his own money on the line in predicting their early exits.
Vegas would agree that Vanderbilt is a better football team than both. Unfortunately, the playoff selection criteria gave the Dukes and Green Wave the nod.
The Commodores were the only 10-win SEC team left out of the CFP. Pavia takes an issue with it. He believes the format needs to change to reward success and level of competition.