Vanderbilt Commodores Tickets

Vanderbilt is the only private school in the conference and is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference. The school remains the smallest in the conference with around 6,400 undergraduates. There are fewer teams in Vanderbilt compared to their rivals, which has prevented the school from enjoying the national prominence embraced by schools such as the University of Kentucky or University of Florida. Vanderbilt's strongest sports have been men's and women's basketball and men's and women's tennis. Bowling programs and women's lacrosse are also partially categorized as the strongest sports. Along with these, men's baseball has also experienced moderate national success. The first half of the 20th century saw the football team as very successful, which continued its struggle into the beginning of the 21st century. The Vanderbilt football team secured a winning season in 2008-09, winning its first bowl game in half a century.

Vanderbilt Commodores administer intercollegiate athletics as a unit of the university's Division of Student Life, not separately from other student organizations. The Chancellor Gordon Gee declared a need to reform college athletics in September 2003, with a focus on the student-athletes. The intercollegiate athletic teams of Vanderbilt are labeled the Commodores, inspired by the name given to Cornelius Vanderbilt, who gained much material success through shipping. The Vanderbilt athletic teams are also referred to as "Dores" or cheered as "Go Dores!"

The mid- to late-nineteenth century saw the US Navy using the term "commodore" as the top rank. A naval officer from the 1880s is depicted as Vanderbilt's mascot, wearing a cutlass, chops, and nineteenth-century naval regalia. Black and gold are the school colors, though the reasons for selecting these colors remain elusive. It is generally held that black and orange were the original colors of the school, as advised by a Princeton judge. Others are of the opinion that the school colors were developed as a tribute to Commodore Vanderbilt's legacy, with gold signifying his money and black denoting the magnate's seizure of coal.

When the earliest football squad in the school was formed in 1890, the members suddenly started wearing black and gold. The University of Tennessee remains the main rival of the Vanderbilt Commodores. However, the basketball team of the University of Kentucky also persists as their budding rival, and Ole Miss also holds their ground against Vanderbilt as the two schools contest against each other as SEC cross-division "permanent opponents" annually.

Scores of football traditions comprise Vanderbilt. The school's athletic history is honored by the "Corridor of Captains"; the football locker room forms the "Commodore Creed"; cheerleaders and fans comprise the "Star Walk" and the marching band is catered to by the "Star V". In 1924, a fight song for Vanderbilt was composed called "Dynamite". Student Francis Craig was the writer and the song matches the spirit and vigor with which Vanderbilt plays. The battle cry of the Commodores has been implemented by the students as "Who ya wit?" Normally, one person shouts this and then the rest of the people yell in reply "V! U!".

In recent years, Vanderbilt's athletic programs have been very successful. The 2006-07 season has been especially recorded as the best. The school's seven teams have been ranked in the Top 25 of their respective sports at one point.

The traditions of the school's athletic teams continue to carry an upward trend. Don't miss out on Vanderbilt Commodores tickets!