Nashville, TENN--Steven Hubbard joked on Saturday afternoon that the McGugin Center should take on a new name, one that commemorates the transfer class that he and Diego Pavia came in to Vanderbilt with.

Hubbard ended his remark with a laugh, although every joke has some truth to it.

The truth is that regardless of where this thing goes from here, Hubbard and his transfer class have some tangible results to support his claim.

Hubbard's group has led Vanderbilt to its best start since 1974, has propelled it to wins over Alabama and Auburn in the same season for the first time since 1955 and has given it bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018.

Accomplishments like that have changed the dynamic of what this place can be. Perhaps that's the biggest part of what's happened thus far.

Pavia and his group have quickly turned Vanderbilt from the SEC's punching bag to a group that can beat anyone in the league anywhere.

The veteran quarterback isn't just satisfied with that, though.

"I want more," Pavia said. "I want it all."

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea embraced the full scope of celebration after Vanderbilt's bowl-game clinching win over Auburn, which was its first at Jordan-Hare Stadium in program history, but wants achievement beyond that afternoon.

Lea wants to keep rolling, he doesn't want this to grow stale.

"I don’t want this to be the final chapter for year four, I don’t want this to be the end," Lea said. "We’re not gonna sit back and celebrate and say ‘that’s enough.’"

Perhaps what's made Lea's group mentally able to do what it's done is the way it's taken on the mentality of its coach.

Lea has always been counted out. In some ways he's likely still being counted out. The Vanderbilt coach and his team don't envision coming back to earth like some of the country anticipates.

They believe there's more out there for them to take.

"These guys are hungry to take this as far as we can take it," Lea said. " I’m not concerned about us lingering too long in a celebration of six wins or us projecting ahead."

Pavia knows that projecting ahead and celebrating could end this thing's momentum.

"If you take one week off you’ll get slaughtered," Pavia said. "You can’t take a week off."

As a result, Vanderbilt has appeared to approach South Carolina with a level of intensity that's indicative of something that will set it up for success on Saturday.

Lea sees that in his group in a way that's unlike what he saw in his complacent group ahead of Vanderbilt's loss to Georgia State.

"I believe that this team knows that in our conference we can’t have a misplaced focus and expect to get the outcome we want," Lea said. "I’m not concerned about us lingering too long in a celebration of six wins or us projecting ahead."

"If anything, the indication I get is just the guys showing up, how they’ve looked in the meetings, how they’ve looked on the practice field, what the conversations are, the attitude around the building, these guys are excited to play on Saturday."