Since Vanderbilt vanquished its athletic department a few years ago, the school's athletic program has been on a noticeable upswing. This season the team nearly qualified for its first bowl game since 1982; the baseball team nabbed the #1 recruiting class in the nation according to "Baseball America"; and the men's basketball team landed prized recruits that will make the team a tournament participant for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler, the team's quarterback, is discussed as a possible top 5 draft pick, which would raise the profile of the athletic department even more. Can all this be attributed to the decision by the school to bring the AD under the aegis of the school president's office? No, but it does seem awfully coincidental that Vanderbilt, long the doormat of the SEC, is creeping closer to the status of a Stanford, Notre Dame, or Duke -- entering the rarefied air of a school that is ultra competitive in academics and athletics.

Players like Cutler, freshman pitcher Josh Zeid of Hamden Hall in Connecticut (a flame-thrower), and cager Derrick Byars (a transfer from UVA) represent a new era in Vanderbilt sports. People said Vanderbilt was stupid to eliminate the traditional athletic department structure. But maybe it's demonstrating that the student/athletes (and not some overpaid, glorified booster, i.e., most athletic directors) are the best face of the school's athletic department. Time will tell, especially if other schools follow suit. In the meantime, Vanderbilt and its supporters must decide whether the new system is providential, or the newfound success is merely coincidental. Either way, there's rarely been a better time to be a Dores supporter.