Lexington, Ky--Clark Lea's Vanderbilt team is the talk of America.

That's not only a result of what they've done after wins over Alabama and Kentucky, though. It's about what they symbolize.

It's about how captivating they are.

Lea's team is fun.

Not only because of their unorthodox schemes and the way they've embraced the underdog role, but because of how they've gravitated towards each other and the spotlight.

"Independent of results, this team likes each other," Lea said. "I hope that everyone that's watching is paying attention to the affection that these guys have for one another because I don't know that that happens everywhere in college football anymore."

As a result of that affection, Vanderbilt's win that was remarkably buisnesslike after its upset of No. 1 Alabama felt like more than that.

It felt like a hungry group fighting for each other.

"I'm inspired by the way that they play for each other in a world that's become defined by transaction," Lea said. "They're interested in becoming part of something bigger than themselves."

Up and down Vanderbilt's roster are players that fit that description. There's Richie Hoskins, the lovable former walk-on who found the end zone tonight and stole the show with his dance that he later dedicated to his girlfriend. There's soft-spoken Sedrick Alexander, who has come into his own as a physical runner. There's Nick Rinaldi and Bryce Cowan, who stepped up in the absence of Langston Patterson.

Rinaldi feels the love. As he walked off from his press conference he was greeted by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.

That's means something to Rinaldi.

"When you can celebrate other's successes as much as your own it's a pretty unreal feeling," Rinaldi said. "I'm just so appreciative of everyone else and their efforts."

Pavia's efforts helped to propel Vanderbilt to an encore after its win over Alabama and give it a chance to do more beyond it.

The country spent most of the week waiting on Vanderbilt's bubble to pop, it said that Pavia's team doesn't have enough bodies and that it will falter at some point.

Vanderbilt didn't as 12.5-point underdogs, though.

That isn't shocking to Pavia.

"I think Vegas just wanted to lose money to tell you the truth," Pavia said. "That stuff don't faze me."

Vanderbilt has stunned the world and become college football's loveable underdogs, but believes it has more ahead of it.

"The team is hungry for more," Lea said.