Even though Vanderbilt fell a tad short of its quest to play for a national championship this season, coach Clark Lea and his 14th-ranked Commodores (10-2) are in celebratory mood heading into the Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa.
And why shouldn’t they be? Unlike Notre Dame and other schools that declined bowl invitations, Lea says Vandy did not hesitate to accept the bid.
“There was no way that we were going to end this story early. I’m so excited to be taking this team down to Tampa and we’re going to soak up every one of those days. I’m looking forward to that,” says Lea, the back-to-back SEC Coach of the Year who was recently named the 2025 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America and Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The bowl is a high-profile, New Year’s Eve matchup against No. 23 Iowa (8-4) of the Big Ten, one that should draw national attention and have Vandy fans flocking to the Florida Gulf Coast at a time when postseason bowls are struggling for both attendance and relevance.
Scott Dochterman of The Athletic ranks the ReliaQuest Bowl as the No. 1 non-College Football Playoff bowl game. Lea heartily agrees with that assessment.
“To realize that we get a chance to close out a special season with a special group of players on a great bowl stage in a great city against a really tough opponent, I mean, as a football fan, a football coach and a football person, it’s hard not to get excited about that,” Lea notes.
Vandy fans share Lea’s enthusiasm for the bowl trip, planning for a Tampa takeover. A school spokesperson confirmed Vandy exceeded its initial allotment (3,000) and received additional tickets through the bowl. In addition, he said several hundred students purchased tickets through a partnership with Student Affairs.
The National Commodore Club sold out of its initial and second wave of fan travel packages (hotel, events in Tampa) and has a waitlist for rooms that may come open. Those sold out very quickly too.
Asked if his bowl game approach is an opportunity to show the CFP selection committee that Vandy belonged in the 12-team tournament, Lea says that’s not his focus.
“It’s an opportunity to go play well but I want to stop short of trying to prove people wrong. I see the game as a celebration. I want it to be about the group of guys that have come together and made for us a historic and special season,” Lea says.
“We get one more chance here together. I want to enjoy it. I want to be there for them. Bowl games are fun but they’re more fun when you win so … we’re going to enjoy ourselves but we need to keep mission-focused here. We’ll enjoy the moment. We won’t make it about anything other than Vanderbilt football.”
The Commodores are led by graduate quarterback Diego Pavia, the Heisman Trophy runner-up and a second-team All-American, and graduate tight end Eli Stowers, who has won three prestigious All-America awards from the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Football Foundation and The Associated Press.
Lea says his team faces a tough test in Iowa, which went 6-3 in the Big Ten, including a 25-24 win over Penn State and routs of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska. All four of their losses, including three top Top 25 teams Indiana, Oregon and USC, were by less than a touchdown.
“This is a really a tough opponent and we’re going to need to be at our best,” Lea says. “We love the matchup. We love the game and it’s going to be a celebration for us.
“This group’s earned the right to go play against a really strong Iowa team. Iowa, for so long, has set the standard for what sustained success looks like. And our program, that’s something we’re aspiring to. There aren’t a lot of coaches in the profession that garner more respect than Kirk Ferentz. I’m looking forward to being able to compete against his team.”
This will be Iowa’s seventh appearance in the bowl, sporting a 3-3 record in Tampa. The Hawkeyes’ last appearance was in 2019, a 27-22 victory when it was the Outback Bowl.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl. This allows our players one last chance to play together in a city and bowl that is a Hawkeye favorite for its hospitality and game day experience,” Ferentz says. “We look forward to heading south and competing hard to finish the 2025 season.”