Nashville, TENN--For the first time since 2013, Vanderbilt football is ranked in the AP Top 25 after a 5-2 start that's included wins over No. 1 Alabama, Virginia Tech and Kentucky.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and his players consider their newfound status futile, though.

"External narratives change with the wind," Lea said when asked about rankings. "People celebrate results, they affirm results but they don’t actually know the inner workings of who we are and what we do."

What Vanderbilt has done to this point has been a result of those inter workings. It's also been one of college football's best stories.

Less than 12 months after the buzzer sounded on a 2-10 season, Vanderbilt is 4-0 at home for the first time since 1982, is on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 2017 and is one win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.

Vanderbilt is out for more, though.

"We have things we want to accomplish and rankings after game seven, they just don’t matter very much," Tight end Eli Stowers said. "We can’t pay attention to that because we have things we need to accomplish too."

Vanderbilt's schedule doesn't let up from here. It could still be underdogs in each of its games the rest of the way despite its ranking.

As a result, Lea has tuned out the number next to his team's name and has steered his team away from putting its identity in it.

"We’re certainly not focused on that now," Lea said of the ranking. "We’re focusing on strengthening internally and continuing to solidify this identity that’s gonna allow us to go after more."

"It's another outside thing, but it lets us know we're competing for something big," Vanderbilt STAR Randon Fontenette said.

Fontenette and his teammates believe that they has more in front of them on the other side of Sunday's rankings.

They believe they can only get there by taking it one step at a time.

"That really don't matter," Offensive lineman Steven Hubbard said. "We not focused on that right now, we just worried about taking it game by game."