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Report: BBVA Compass Bowl Gets Vanderbilt for Game Against Houston

The Commodores might have had a historic year, but they're still going to Birmingham to play the Cougars of the American Athletics Conference

By Brandon Larrabee
Frederick Breedon

The BBVA Compass Bowl is tied for the last SEC bowl to select this year. That's an important thing to keep in mind as we lay out the following report.

Part of that is a function of all but two of the SEC's bowl-eligible teams at least equaling the 8-4 record that the Commodores have, part of that is a function of the Music City Bowl not wanting Vanderbilt, and part of it is a function of the Liberty Bowl trying to dodge a repeat SEC participant. Still, it's hard for Vanderbilt fans to swallow getting bumped down to the lowest rung of the bowl ladder after the year that they had.

Houston, as you might expect, has a prolific passing attack matched with a lackluster rushing offense and a pocketful of rabbit's feet. The Cougars lead the nation in turnover margin, averaging an edge of 2.1 turnovers a game. How lucky is that? The team with the next-highest turnover margin is up by an average of 1.3 a game. However, 23 of the turnovers were interceptions, which are less lucky than fumble recoveries (at least in my opinion).

The BBVA Compass Bowl airs Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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