Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea isn't making excuses for the Commodores being on the outside looking in on the College Football Playoff (CFP).

Although he advocated for his team to be one of the 12 in the playoff, like every other coach in the situation, Lea didn't harp on his team's case after the fact, and instead, took responsibility for Vanderbilt not being quite good enough to make its first CFP berth.

“We met to kind of announce the bowl site yesterday afternoon, that was before the guys were going into the weight room to lift, and the message was just, ‘Hey, we had control over this at Alabama and at Texas,' and we did not do enough. I think it's really important that we take ownership over the things that we did have control over, rather than complain about whatever decisions are being left out. We can't be victims in this situation because I think there's a level of entitlement that exists in that that cuts against the kind of DNA of our program. So the conversation was, ‘Hey, the world expects us to be disappointed right now, but what we are is excited.'

“We have a great opportunity, and it's a great celebration on a tremendous bowl stage in a great city against a really challenging Big Ten opponent. As football people, which is what we are in this program, it's just so exciting. We're looking forward to this time we get to spend together. This morning, we had a short practice, but it was really just about going out and having fun around the game that we share and love. We'll do that through the week. We'll turn our attention to Iowa next week, get some time at home for Christmas, and then go have a great team celebration down in Tampa.”

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Vanderbilt finished the regular season with a 10-2 record, including a 6-2 mark in the SEC, but, as Lea illustrated, the road losses to Alabama and Texas effectively ended its playoff bid. The ‘Dores finished 14th in the final CFP rankings, behind six conference foes, including No. 9 Alabama and No. 13 Texas.

As a consolation for being left out of the playoff field, Vanderbilt will play 23rd-ranked Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31.