James Franklin's Vanderbilt Commodores seemed to relish the underdog role. In his three years as head coach in Nashville, Vanderbilt was listed as an underdog 18 times, covered 11 times and won straight up six times. The Commodores were seven-point underdogs when they won at Missouri in 2012 and beat Georgia at home in 2013. They were 10.5-point dogs at Florida -- where they hadn't won in nearly seven decades -- late in 2013. They won 34-17.
Central to Vandy's underdog exploits was the simple ability to pounce. Whatever mistakes the Dores were granted -- special-teams miscues, turnovers, whatever -- they maximized.