Vanderbilt Versus the SEC New Boys

With the addition of two new teams into the SEC fold in 2012 it is worth looking at how Vanderbilt has fared against both schools in the past. Would you believe, for instance, that in one game this year the Commodores will be facing an SEC opponent who hasn’t beaten them in over a century?

That opponent is not the Texas A&M Aggies. You could argue that Vandy has an even better record against A&M, a perfect one. That, however, would be kind of misleading as the two schools have never met in the 122 years both have been playing football (the Commodores actually got a jump start on the Aggies starting football in 1890 compared to 1894). Interestingly, it is unclear at this point when Vandy will play the Aggies as the SEC’s 6-1-1 scheduling format could keep the colleges apart for the next few years.

The team that the Commodores have been perfect against since the turn of the last century is the Missouri Tigers, who Vanderbilt will play on October 6th in Columbia, Missouri. Vandy has a 1-2-1 all time record against the Tigers, with the two losses occurring in back-to-back seasons starting in 1896. The two losses (by a combined 42-6 score) came almost a decade before the forward pass was legalized and were followed by back-to-back games that included a 7-7 1957 tie and a 12-8 Vanderbilt win in 1958.

The other slightly strange fact about this series is that to date none of the games have taken place in Nashville. When the game in Columbia this year takes place it will be the fourth of the five contests to have been played in that city. The other game (1896) was for some reason played on a neutral site in St. Louis, Missouri.

Baring in mind that Vandy hasn’t lost to Mizzou in 116 years, maybe they should look to take the 2013 edition of the now yearly rivalry to Kansas City or Springfield. After all, why bother changing a formula which has the Commodores undefeated against an opponent since before construction of the Titanic was started?

Vanderbilt vs. Missouri series

1895 Missouri 16 Vanderbilt 0
1896 Missouri 26 Vanderbilt 6
1957 Vanderbilt 7 Missouri 7 (tie)
1958 Vanderbilt 12 Missouri 8