Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt football latest bowl projections, rumors today
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Vanderbilt football's College Football Playoff hopes are all but over after the Commodores were ranked No. 14 in the committee's penultimate rankings.
But the Commodores (10-2) will still go to an attractive destination. For several weeks, Vanderbilt has been projected to end up at a bowl in Florida and face an opponent from the Big Ten or the ACC.
Quarterback Diego Pavia will have the chance to lead the Commodores to a historic 11th win in a bowl game after the team notched its first 10-win season ever.
This will be Vanderbilt's second bowl game under coach Clark Lea. The Commodores won the Birmingham Bowl in 2024.
Here are the latest projections and rumors for Vanderbilt's bowl destination:
Vanderbilt football final bowl projections
Projections by major outlets, including ESPN, Sporting News, The Athletic and Athlon Sports have solidified around Vanderbilt in one of two bowls: the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Florida, or the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Brett McMurphy of On3 reported that Iowa was the Big Ten's selection for the ReliaQuest Bowl.
How the SEC determines its bowl spots
The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, is given the top choice of SEC teams. The Citrus Bowl is not required to choose the highest-ranked SEC team, but projections universally have it doing so by selecting Texas.
After that, the SEC assigns remaining teams to six bowls: the ReliaQuest and Gator, along with the Texas Bowl, Music City Bowl, Duke's Mayo Bowl and Liberty Bowl. If there are remaining SEC teams, ESPN Events selects teams for the Birmingham Bowl and the Gasparilla Bowl.
Five SEC teams (Texas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Missouri and LSU) are bowl eligible but not currently slated for the CFP, meaning that several bowls may not get filled with conference teams. Auburn, at 5-7, could in theory get a bowl bid due to APR, but the Tigers reportedly would decline an invitation.
A team generally cannot go to the same bowl two years in a row. Last year, LSU went to the Texas Bowl and Missouri went to the Music City Bowl.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt football bowl projections, rumors today
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