My favorite Vanderbilt tailgating tradition: the mystery cooler

I wasn’t lucky enough to go to Vanderbilt as an undergrad — I only found the school through dumb luck as a graduate student. Attending the university was the best decision I’ve ever made for several reasons, but humid Saturday afternoons on the city’s western border rank in the top five.

The main benefit to my late discovery of Commodore Football was an experienced group of students and fans who introduced me to the world of southern tailgating. The closest college football team near me growing up in Rhode Island was Brown University, and while those games were [three fire emojis, or for the adults -- very good], there wasn’t much going on before or after those Ivy League showdowns.…