“Vanderbilt is a local rival who we’ve got to make sure know their place.” I mean, if you didn’t hate fans of THEM Middle already... So, Middle Tennessee State thinks they’re going to do what every SEC school does and invade Nashville with their own fans. I guess this was the logic behind scheduling a home-and-home with Middle: if Vanderbilt fans won’t show up to watch Vanderbilt football, at least somebody will. And according to the Facebook page, Middle has already sold their ticket allotment for the game.
That said, it’s hard enough to get Middle to paint their own stadium blue: they averaged 17,210 fans at their home games in 2015.