NASHVILLE – He is one of the more unlikely, yet one of the more entertaining fans of Vanderbilt football. Celebrity comedian Theo Von has been vocal about his fandom for Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and his team ever since Vanderbilt took down No.

What did ESPN College GameDay's crew said about Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia and Clark Lea? Hint: A lot of nice things

In a battle of unexpected SEC contenders, No. 15 Missouri travels to Nashville to face No. 10 Vanderbilt in a game with SEC and major College Football Playoff implications. The Commodores, led by dynamic quarterback Diego Pavia, have already stunned the conference, earning their first AP Top 10 ranking since 1947 after an upset victory over LSU.

David Pollack picked No. 10 Vanderbilt to defeat No. 15 Missouri, praising the Commodores’ complete offense and resilient defense. The Week 9 showdown in Nashville marks a pivotal test for both SEC playoff hopefuls with College GameDay on site. David Pollack picks the Commodores to win and strengthen their playoff hopes.

Eight months after winning a historic legal injunction against the NCAA that allowed him to play a sixth season of college football, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is doubling down. According to Front Office Sports,

Vanderbilt took down UAB and cleared the bench in an 89-67 trouncing in Birmingham on Thursday night as it finished exhibition play prior to its season opener against Lipscomb on Nov. 3. Here's a few takeaways from the Commodores' final tune up.

Vanderbilt next hosts No. 15 Missouri on “College GameDay” this Saturday. Each week on the show, analyst Pat McAfee hosts a field goal contest for students with a chance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars. There have already been three winners of the contest this season.

Missouri doesn't need to win in a shootout. They just need to be themselves, create long drives, protect Beau Pribula and finish in the red zone instead of settling. Vanderbilt has allowed touchdowns on 60% of red-zone trips, and Missouri has scored on nearly 70% of theirs. That difference in short-field execution can flip the game.

The Commodores took Missouri to two overtimes last season and they're favored as they return home to Nashville. They're coming off of a 31-24 win against LSU, which was their second triumph against a top-15 team -- LSU ranked 10th entering the Week 8 slate -- this season. Vanderbilt is also undefeated at home.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are doing exactly what they talked about last January when starting to prepare for this season. So the stakes keep rising each week, with none of the Commodores happy just being bowl eligible,

Vanderbilt is fully aware that Kirk Herbstreit is a big-time dog owner, so the program is rolling out the red carpet for the ESPN analyst.