The CFP Era · 2014–present

Vanderbilt

Twelve seasons in three acts · SEC

53–92Record
36.6%Win %
0National titles
2025Peak season
31Avg. percentile
10NFL draftees

The three-act trajectory

Within-season power percentile against the FBS cohort, season by season.

FOUNDINGTRANSITIONEXPANSION0255075100141516171819202122232425Peak of the era2025 · 10–3Steepest fall2019
Source CFB Zeitgeist · power ratings
Founding2014–2020

The four-team Playoff era. The bracket is small, the margin for error none.

27–56 · avg percentile 30
Transition2021–2023

The last seasons before expansion — NIL arrives, the portal opens, the four-team format ends.

9–27 · avg percentile 13
Expansion2024–present

The twelve-team Playoff. A wider field changes what a season has to prove.

17–9 · avg percentile 62

Defining games

Coaches of the era

Derek Mason2014–2017
Derek Mason2020–2020
Clark Lea2021–2025

Roster of the era

10 players drafted into the NFL across the CFP era.

115
216
117
218
119
120
124
125

Entering Year 13

The 2026 season opens the next chapter of the expansion era under Clark Lea. See the 2014–2025 program page →