Vanderbilt Commodore Links: 2011.08.29 Edition

All the relevant Vanderbilt Commodore news (that I've read) from the past 24 or so hours. Also, a friendly reminder: Make sure to catch James Franklin's Noon CT press conference!

Vanderbilt Commodores Football

Coach Franklin has announced that the team has voted five players as captains for the 2011 season: Kyle Fischer, Casey Hayward, Chris Marve, Larry Smith, and Carey Spear.

Al.com has a "by the numbers" style preview of the SEC. There are several pertaining to the Commodores, including:

294 - SEC games played by Vanderbilt since the Commodores posted a shutout, the longest non-shutout streak in league history. Vandy blanked Kentucky 6-0 on Nov. 9, 1968. Vanderbilt has shut out eight opponents since then, but all of the blankings came in non-conference games.

My hypothesis that press entities recycle their annual Vanderbilt previews continues to hold true. Did you know that Vanderbilt faces the ultimate challenge in mixing academics with athletics? I did find this one little blurb to be very interesting at a time when the school and its administration has promised to "change the culture":

Vanderbilt is inexorably tied with three others among FCS-level brainiac schools - Stanford, Northwestern and Duke. Vandy's football budget is the lowest of the three, trailing Stanford by more than $3 million. This despite higher revenues through the SEC TV contracts.

It is true: Vanderbilt was once the southern football power.

The National Commodore Club announces home and road tailgates.

Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball

Luke Winn takes a statistical look at college basketball's top "Value Add" offensive players (think WAR -- Wins Above Replacement -- except for hoops instead of baseball). Number three overall on his list? John Jenkins. There's more:

Vanderbilt's offense is going to be insanely good ... but the Commodores still might not be a top-10 team. In terms of cumulative returning Value Add, Vandy's offensive figure of 18.75 percent is by far the best in the country, with Ohio State second at 15.80 percent, and North Carolina third at 13.70. The 'Dores' quartet of John Jenkins (6.18%), Brad Tinsley (3.68%), Festus Ezeli (3.48%) and Jeffery Taylor (2.71%) is excellent.

College Football

Here's your week 1 college football tv schedule, courtesy of the SB Nation mothership.

Blogpoll: The 2011 preseason college football rankings are out. Hit the link for traditional blogpoll snark. Check the results after the jump.