Four scenarios for Vanderbilt's football season; we're going with 'slow and steady wins the race'

Here are four different scenarios for Vanderbilt's season:

THE ROLLER COASTER: Just like last season, the Commodores pull some huge upsets and then fail to win some winnable games. In this scenario, Vandy beats either LSU or Ole Miss to start the season 5-1, then lose the next four games to Georgia, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Florida. At 5-5, the Dores have to beat either Kentucky or Tennessee, both of whom have bowl plans of their own.

THE HOUSE OF HORRORS: Vandy fights gallantly in defeats at the hands of LSU and Ole Miss, but also loses a heartbreaker to Miss State and a shootout at Rice. With a 2-4 record going into a murderous stretch against four or five ranked opponents, the Dores are dead.

THE ROCKET: The Commodores get off to a hot start but keep the pedal to the metal. With an upset of either LSU or Ole Miss and methodical victories over Miss State, Rice and Army, the Dores are 5-1. Familiar, right? But then they take two of three against Georgia, South Carolina and Georgia Tech. With seven wins and the pressure off, they scare Florida and then finish strong against Kentucky and Tennessee to cap a magical 9-3 season and a bid to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

THE TORTOISE: The Dores start the season beating the teams they should, and losing to the teams they should, on the way to a 4-2 record. But then a funny thing happens. They don't collapse. They upset Georgia at home, lose to South Carolina on the road, upset Tech at home to become bowl eligible, lose to Florida on the road, and then finish strong with a victory over Kentucky and a good showing (win or lose) in Knoxville. And they're better in November than they were in September. Imagine that.

Think I will. I'm going with the tortoise. After last year's streaky performance, I'm predicting we lose to LSU, beat Miss State and Rice, lose to Ole Miss, beat Army and Georgia, lose to South Carolina, beat Georgia Tech, lose to Florida, beat Kentucky and lose to Tennessee. That's seven wins, counting last Saturday's victory over Western Carolina. We'd be looking at either the Chick-Fil-A Bowl or the Music City or Liberty bowls.