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SEC schedule released and weΓÇÖre not on Vandy schedule.

They see Georgia, Bama, LSU, etc., every year. No way they're afraid of facing us.
There has to be more to the story.
For what it's worth, Vandy is still on our schedule.

I imagine being the Vandy AD is a tricky job. You know you're going to go 0-8, or maybe at best 1-7, in conference every year. So I would think scheduling non-conference games you can win becomes a much bigger priority. Wouldn't surprise me if they signed this in 2019 thinking they were getting an average G-5 cupcake, and are now taking a 2nd look at SMU and saying "No thanks." Not because they are "scared", but just because you don't want to go 2-10 if you can help it.

Was the entire series cancelled or just next year's game?

We were supposed to play them 3 times.

PonyTime wrote:Was the entire series cancelled or just next year's game?

We were supposed to play them 3 times.

Embody said he hasn't figured it out yet. But confirm it was Vandy that was the one who cancelled the game and will be buying it out.

Sounds like SMU was blind sighted by the fact it was announced this early.

Mustangs35SMU wrote:

PonyTime wrote:Was the entire series cancelled or just next year's game?

We were supposed to play them 3 times.

Embody said he hasn't figured it out yet. But confirm it was Vandy that was the one who cancelled the game and will be buying it out.

Sounds like SMU was blind sighted by the fact it was announced this early.

From what I read SMU was told by Vandy the night before the SEC schedule was made public. SI has a brutal article about Vandy and what they did.

From the SI article:

"That's right. Vanderbilt dropped a game with a Group of Five team transitioning to the big time so it can go on a road game against a Sun Belt school."

https://www.si.com/college/arkansas/hog ... ittman-lea

giacfsp wrote:They see Georgia, Bama, LSU, etc., every year. No way they're afraid of facing us.
There has to be more to the story.
For what it's worth, Vandy is still on our schedule.

Actually, that is precisely why they are afraid of facing SMU. They count those games as losses ahead of the season. They were hoping SMU would be a winnable game to get them to bowl eligibility. If they know they will likely lose, then they have no shot at a bowl game to start the season and that is not very enticing to them and their fans. If they play a garbage non-conference schedule to go 4-0 they can go 2-6 in the SEC and claim they are a great team because a 6-6 SEC team is top 15 in the country right?

Hilltopper wrote:From the SI article:

"That's right. Vanderbilt dropped a game with a Group of Five team transitioning to the big time so it can go on a road game against a Sun Belt school."

https://www.si.com/college/arkansas/hog ... ittman-lea

ThatΓÇÖs a funny read. Crazy they would cancel for a road game at Georgia State, and really funny if they lose.

mustangxc wrote:

giacfsp wrote:They see Georgia, Bama, LSU, etc., every year. No way they're afraid of facing us.
There has to be more to the story.
For what it's worth, Vandy is still on our schedule.

Actually, that is precisely why they are afraid of facing SMU. They count those games as losses ahead of the season. They were hoping SMU would be a winnable game to get them to bowl eligibility. If they know they will likely lose, then they have no shot at a bowl game to start the season and that is not very enticing to them and their fans. If they play a garbage non-conference schedule to go 4-0 they can go 2-6 in the SEC and claim they are a great team because a 6-6 SEC team is top 15 in the country right?

This is exactly the reason. It's not that they're afraid of SMU, but they very much are afraid of having a losing record with the SEC schedule they have, and knowing we already have a better team than they do.

Mustangs_Maroons wrote:

mustangxc wrote:

giacfsp wrote:They see Georgia, Bama, LSU, etc., every year. No way they're afraid of facing us.
There has to be more to the story.
For what it's worth, Vandy is still on our schedule.

Actually, that is precisely why they are afraid of facing SMU. They count those games as losses ahead of the season. They were hoping SMU would be a winnable game to get them to bowl eligibility. If they know they will likely lose, then they have no shot at a bowl game to start the season and that is not very enticing to them and their fans. If they play a garbage non-conference schedule to go 4-0 they can go 2-6 in the SEC and claim they are a great team because a 6-6 SEC team is top 15 in the country right?

This is exactly the reason. It's not that they're afraid of SMU, but they very much are afraid of having a losing record with the SEC schedule they have, and knowing we already have a better team than they do.

The last part of your second sentence contradicts the first part of that sentence. (The last part is the part that is correct.)

From the SMU SI site

ΓÇ£Instead of a home game against the Mustangs, the Commodores are taking a road trip to Georgia State. There's your indicator of desperation. Vandy gave up a home game for a short road trip against a lower-level team. If that's not a team just looking for a win, I'm not really sure what is.ΓÇ¥

https://www.si.com/college/smu/football ... nd-sec-acc

Actually, the newly added team in Vandy's schedule is the powerhouse Ball State Cardinals. Vandy home game. They did not want to face this juggernaut on the road! The dates have been shuffled.

HubbaHubba wrote:Actually, the newly added team in Vandy's schedule is the powerhouse Ball State Cardinals. Vandy home game. They did not want to face this juggernaut on the road! The dates have been shuffled.

I donΓÇÖt think this is correct. Our game was scheduled for September 14, and that date is now them playing at Georgia State.