NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — With just over a month until the college football season begins, talking season is in full swing.

The Southeastern Conference just wrapped up its media days in Atlanta, and ESPN has released its strength of schedule rankings for all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision Series.

In that category, the Vanderbilt Commodores rank No. 2 in the country behind only Florida.

"This is our reality," Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said on Monday in Atlanta. "As we strengthen, so too does our league. There is no easy pass."

The Commodores finished the 2024-2025 season with a 7-6 record, the program's best finish since 2018. ESPN slated Vanderbilt's schedule as the 14th toughest schedule in the country ahead of last season.

Vanderbilt's schedule doesn't change all that much in 2025 as most matchups simply swap locations.

The Commodores will hit the road for a nonconference date in Blacksburg, Virginia, to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. In conference, Vanderbilt will visit South Carolina, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.

"Kind of like the idea of being hunted, you know what I mean?" Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia told News 2's Julian Mininsohn in Atlanta. "I don't know; maybe that's just the craziness of me, but it's a 50-50 game. It starts off 0-0, so we'll be excited."

Back in Nashville, the 'Dores will host Charleston Southern, Georgia State, Utah State, LSU, Missouri, Auburn for homecoming, and Kentucky.

The Commodores haven't had back-to-back winning seasons in over a decade.

According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Vanderbilt has a 30.8% chance to win six games and reach bowl eligbility. ESPN FPI also projects the Commodores to finish 4.8 wins and 7.2 losses, so about 4-8 or 5-7.

"It gives this feeling that we have something at stake this fall," Lea told News 2. "It creates an excitement for us, too. We feel like we're fighting for the program that we worked hard to build to this point, and we have positioned it in a place where we can launch for more."

Here's a look at Vanderbilt's entire 2025-2026 football schedule:

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/sports/vanderbilt-has-2nd-toughest-schedule-in-country-per-espn-analytics/