A history lesson on how Auburn became Vanderbilt football's most competitive SEC opponent

Vanderbilt football has a losing record against every current member of the SEC − except one.

The Commodores (2-6, 0-5 SEC) are 21-21-1 all time against Auburn (4-4, 1-4), with the tie set to be broken when the two face off at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday (3 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

Auburn and Vanderbilt were both charter members of the SEC, but for a nearly century-long conference opponent, the Tigers have been one of the Commodores' least frequent opponents. In the 39 years between the two schools' first matchup and the founding of the SEC, they faced off 19 times. In the 90 years since, they have played just 24 times.

Among the other charter members of the SEC that are still in the conference (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Tennessee), only Mississippi State has been a less frequent opponent since the SEC's founding, with the two having faced off 21 times.

But the SEC expanding and eliminating divisions in 2024, Vanderbilt will face Auburn once again, that time at Jordan-Hare Stadium, where the Commodores have never won a game. That could re-ignite what has largely been a competitive series through its history.

The early history

There was a time when Vanderbilt and Auburn played just about every year. The two first played in 1893, then rematched each of the next two seasons. After a few more sporadic matchups, the two teams played every year from 1912-20.

In 19 matchups before the SEC was officially formed in 1932, the Commodores led the series, 12-6-1.

These early days were mostly low scoring − Vanderbilt had 7-6 wins in 1919 and 1934 and a 10-9 loss in 1925. Three straight seasons from 1912-14 resulted in scores of 7-7 (back when ties were common), then 13-6 and 6-0 Auburn wins. When the games were blowouts, though, the Commodores were usually on the winning end. They won by scores of 41-0 (in 1901), 54-0 (in 1905) and 41-2 (in 1929).

Prior to the opening of Jordan-Hare Stadium (then called Cliff Hare Stadium) in 1939, the Tigers played most of their games at neutral sites. Even after Jordan-Hare opened, the two teams did not match up in Auburn until 1951, with the Tigers' home games in the series being played in Birmingham and Montgomery.

The losing streak

Vanderbilt notched a big victory in 1950, winning 41-0 over a hapless Auburn team that finished 0-10.

That resulted in the Tigers firing coach Earl Brown and replacing him with Ralph Jordan, one of the eventual namesakes of Jordan-Hare. In 1951, Auburn came away with a 24-14 victory as it improved to 5-5.

Vanderbilt's next game against Auburn was not a conference matchup. Instead, the two teams played in the 1955 Gator Bowl with the Commodores at 7-3 and the Tigers at 8-1-1. Vanderbilt won that matchup, 25-13 − and it would be their last victory in the series for over 50 years.

The Commodores lost 13 straight games to Auburn spanning from 1978 (their next matchup after 1955) to 2007. Only three of those games were even close. In 1991, a 1-4 Vanderbilt team pushed 3-2 and No. 24 Auburn to the brink, but fell, 24-22.

Two years later, in 1993, the Commodores, this time 1-3, faced another ranked Tigers team at home. This version of Auburn was 5-0 and ranked 23rd, but the result was once again a heartbreaker, 14-10. The Tigers finished 11-0 and ranked fourth in the country; Vanderbilt was one of three games it played within one score.

In 2001, the Commodores, then 1-3 and eventually 2-9, were tied with Auburn late in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers kicked a field goal with just over five minutes remaining. Vanderbilt got the ball back and drove to the Auburn 27-yard-line but opted to attempt a fourth-down conversion with 42 seconds left instead of trying a long field goal. The unsuccessful attempt sealed the win for the Tigers.

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'College GameDay' and a more competitive matchup

The 2001 season spelled the end of Woody Widenhofer as Vanderbilt coach. In 2002, Bobby Johnson took over and a player named Clark Lea joined the Commodores as a fullback.

The Commodores had blowout losses in 2002, 2003 and 2007. But 2008 was different. After Vanderbilt won its first four games of the season, the Commodores and Tigers met with both teams ranked. ESPN's "College GameDay" came to Vanderbilt for the first time ever.

The Commodores started out badly, giving up two touchdowns in the first quarter, but a missed extra point came back to bite Auburn. Vanderbilt's defense clamped down − the Tigers' remaining 10 drives (not counting the end of the first half) consisted of nine punts and an interception. Quarterback Mackenzi Adams threw what would become the game-winning touchdown pass in the third quarter to secure a 14-13 win.

The 2008 season marked Vanderbilt's first win over Auburn in 53 years and its first winning season and bowl appearance in 26 years.

After that 2008 game, the tides seemingly shifted again. The 2012 matchup resulted in a 17-13 victory for the Commodores. Both the 2008 and 2012 seasons resulted in coaching changes for the Tigers.

In 2016, the two teams played another close matchup, though Auburn came away with the 23-16 victory in what was the most recent matchup between the two teams.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Here's a history lesson about Vanderbilt football series vs Auburn