Feb. 16, 2008
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By Rod Williamson
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Memorial Magic is in full bloom, and baseball is just around the corner. That means it is time to think about a football bowl game in 2008. I’m sober and completely serious.
We are not predicting our first bowl trip since 1982 but I will go on record as expecting we will once again be knocking on the proverbial qualifying door. Maybe this time we’ll kick it in. You should share that expectation. What’s that you say? You’ll worry about it when the time comes? Fair enough, but let me offer fodder to chew on.
You might be surprised to learn we were preparing for a possible bowl game this past year. Administrators made a detailed presentation to a bowl committee. We learned much in the process.
A school’s fan base is paramount to bowl committees. They are far less concerned about the gridiron attributes of a team than they are about how many tickets that university is likely to sell, how many hotel rooms will be used and what impact that team’s faithful will have on their local economy.
We have a challenge. Our academic reputation is golden, but we have a liability when convincing city fathers that we should be their choice against SEC powers that draw 92,000 fans for a spring game and routinely travel 15,000+.
Imagine yourself with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and can choose between Mississippi State with 30,000 cow-bell-clanging Bulldog fans and Vanderbilt, which takes less than 10% of that number to many road games. Who do you vote for?
We learned of the Wake Forest example. The Deacons made the 2006 ACC title game and on that national stage, Wake brought about 2,000 fans. Over half the stadium was empty — a huge embarrassment to the ACC and a bigger turnoff to bowl reps.
Fortunately for Wake Forest, it won the game and went to the Orange Bowl. Had it lost, it would have tumbled to the lower tier of bowls because nobody wanted their puny fan base. However, to the relief of the Orange Bowl, Wake Forest regrouped and attracted 18,000 fans, redeeming its reputation as a viable bowl participant.
Kentucky is a favorite with our local Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. Despite returning to the bowl for the second straight year and having migrated to Vanderbilt Stadium in November for our regular season contest, the Cats pre-sold 27,000 tickets! The game was an immediate sellout. That has a profound impact.
When we have this opportunity, Vanderbilt needs thousands of people who heretofore have not been bitten by the football bug to get excited. Since you are reading this magazine, we are preaching to the choir, but it is not too early to get the right mindset.
Just as we planned to host an NCAA Baseball Regional several years before we actually did, it is only prudent that we plan now with our improving football program. We will be working behind the scenes, defining our program and university to bowl reps well in advance of invitations. We would be irresponsible if we didn’t.
We’re working on our part, but we need you and lots of others to decide now that you and your family will attend our bowl game, regardless of the site. Don’t host a block party. Don’t go to a sports bar with the gang … hop in a car or plane and show up.
We can’t buy our way in; we can’t beg our way in. For years we’ve heard folks say they will get with the program when there is good reason. That time may arrive soon.