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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Verianas on 2024-05-08 23:29:48+00:00.
Ended up down a rabbit hole browsing Winsipedia looking at various schools because of the ESPN article about ‘left behind’ programs, and ended up on Vanderbilt. I noticed looking at their win % chart that there is a clear line where their program stalled, and essentially collapsed. For the first 70 years tracked on the site they had 10 seasons under .500, and for the last 64 they’ve had only 7 seasons where they finished over that mark. I’ve tried to find some kind of answer as to why or how this happened, and even the ‘history of Vanderbilt Athletics’ on the schools website didn’t really provide anything. Just kind of wondering if any of the SEC fans, Vandy alums, or Tennessee natives can provide some context. It just seems astonishing to me that a program had that much success for half a century, to have none of that, seemingly out of nowhere. Made me wonder if there was some kind of shift culturally or financially at the university (or in the SEC) at that time, or if there was an event or series of events that lead to a serious reduction in football funding, or… Something else entirely. It doesn’t appear to be a slow decline on paper. Just a precipitous, and seemingly instantaneous drop.