2025 Vanderbilt Football Predictions: Commodores Ranked 36th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

This isn't your average college football ranking.

My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:

• Who do I think is good?
• Why do I think they're good?
• What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?

Here is a look at where Vanderbilt lands in my Ultimate 136.

Vanderbilt Commodores ranking: 36
Last year’s ranking: 99
Top player: QB Diego Pavia: Set school records for fewest interceptions (4) (min. 250 attempts) and rushing yards by a quarterback (801).

[Vanderbilt's 2025 schedule]

RJ's take: Vanderbilt beat a No. 1-ranked team for the first time in school history last year, and the fact that it came against Alabama made it that much sweeter. This is a program that has been ranked a total of seven weeks in nearly 70 years. They were voted into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013 last October, and Clark Lea has a better roster this year than last year.

Pavia returns for one more year, his sixth of college football, and will do it as the only man in history to win Conference USA Player of the Year and SEC Newcomer of the Year. His partnership with tight end Eli Stowers will prove as crucial for Vandy as Carson Beck’s with Brock Bowers was at Georgia in 2023. If the tandem can be All-SEC players again — Pavia was a second-team selection and Stowers was a first-team pick — Vandy can prove that last year was no fluke and that seven wins is the new normal in Nashville.

A kind schedule is also in the offering. The Commodores will play against just two teams that made the College Football Playoff last year (Texas and Tennessee) and will play SEC foes LSU and Missouri at home.

[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]

Vanderbilt Win Total Odds: Over 4.5 (-188) Under 4.5 (+152)

Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.