Power ranking the SEC after week 5: #13 - Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt has dropped two spots due to teams below them last week moving up. The Commodores had an off week this week, and will be facing off with Alabama at home this weekend.
This is an obvious letdown spot for the Tide, and one of the biggest games of the entire year for the Commodores. It doesn’t help Vandy much that it’s at home, except insofar that they don’t have to play in Tuscaloosa; in other words, there’s not a real home field advantage in Nashville, but at least the Commodores don’t have to deal with Alabama’s home field advantage.
Even so, this is still the longest of long shots. Vanderbilt, for all their scrappiness this year, can’t measure up to a team like Alabama on the lines of scrimmage. Bama can just lean on Vandy and get out of Nashville with a win pretty easily.
That said, it’s not like DeBoer doesn’t have a reputation for coaching his teams to very close wins over very inferior opponents (UW vs. Arizona State last year jumps to mind). This one could be exciting, but I’m more of the mind that Bama keeps their momentum going with a big win over the ‘Dores.