Vanderbilt AD explains scheduling of WKU, MTSU

Vanderbilt opened the season Thursday night with a 14-12 loss to Western Kentucky in the first of a three-game, alternating home-and-home series with the Hilltoppers, who entered the contest as a two-point favorite.

In addition, the Commodores begin a series this year with in-state opponent Middle Tennessee, a Sun Belt program that also has had moderate success in recent history.

As an SEC team with so little to gain from scheduling quality mid-major teams -- either big-name opponents or bad programs yielding easy wins would seem preferable -- why is Vandy scheduling some teams?

According to The Tennessean, Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams sees these as games that should prepare the program to compete at a higher level.

“I understand how people could say, ‘Well, we don’t have anything to win.’ I think we have something to win. We can win the game," Williams told The Tennessean. "... I understand they are mid-majors and I understand they have good programs, but by the same token, I think we need to have ourselves prepared to play those teams."

Williams also said that there is a regionally beneficial aspect to playing teams such as Western Kentucky and nearby Middle Tennessee State.

"It’s that backyard brawl sort of thing and that rivalry from within. You don’t want to do it all the time, but we are trying to do a home-and-home with them when we can."

Williams added, "I think (scheduling nearby teams) just makes sense. ... It’s a community. You might not necessarily recruit against those schools, but I think it does help us in this area to every now and then play those schools."

Finally, Williams pointed out that there are financial considerations for a program such as Vanderbilt that doesn't have the resources of some of its SEC peers.

"Are you going to have all four of your non-conference games at home? There is an advantage to that, but then the disadvantage is that you’re going to spend a fair amount of money, because those schools, as I understand it, tend to try to extract a large sum of money when they are going on the road. So then you start looking at the concept of home-and-home."

(h/t The Tennessean)