Vanderbilt fines, explained: Commodores approaching $1 million in punishments for court and field storming incidents | Sporting News

College sports upsets are some of the most exciting moments, but they also can be quite expensive.

That is largely exemplified this year by Vanderbilt, whose football and basketball teams haven't exactly been dominant in recent years.

However, both teams have improved, leading to multiple upsets in both the fall and winter that have cost the school a significant amount of money.

How can beating some of the best teams in the league actually financially hurt an athletic program? Here's why the SEC keeps fining Vanderbilt.

NCAAB HQ: Live NCAAB scores | Updated NCAAB standings | Full NCAAB schedule Vanderbilt fines, explained In an attempt to curb the danger that happens when fans storm an area, the SEC instituted fines for schools whose fans storm the area of play after games.

Typically, fans only rush the area of play during major upsets, which also requires the home team to be significantly worse than the road team.

Vanderbilt is not a powerhouse in either football or basketball, but both teams have pulled off huge upsets, leading to court storms and subsequent fines.

First, Vanderbilt football upset then-No.

1 Alabama in October, leading to fans running onto the field, eventually resulting in a $100,000 fine.

FINAL: Vanderbilt 40, Alabama 35.

Youre not gonna be able to keep them off the field tonight! (Ft: a video of Nick Saban saying Vanderbilt is the only place in the SEC not hard to play at) pic.twitter.com/kEIC2yXPip That was Vanderbilt's only major football upset of the season, but the basketball team continued the trend.

Last week, Vanderbilt basketball upset top-10 ranked Tennessee, leading to the first basketball court-storm of their year.

Since it was the second storm of the athletic calendar year, the SEC raised the fine to $250,000.

The court storm: pic.twitter.com/IxyBVZ1omA MORE: How Houston stunned Kansas in chaotic double overtime win The Commodores' basketball team continued their hot stretch with a win against No.

9 Kentucky on Saturday, resulting in fans storming the court once more.

The SEC will now fine Vanderbilt $500,000 for a third offense in the last four months, bringing the total to $850,000.

First offense: beating Alabama in football ($100k) Second offense: beating Tennessee in basketball ($250k) Third offense: beating Kentucky in basketball ($500k) Might be financially savvy to beef up security on the West End before Auburn comes to town.

pic.twitter.com/Bk00ysJxTn At 16-4 on the season, Vanderbilt is a good enough basketball team where upsets should be more expected moving forward.

At the very least, Vanderbilt has to monitor future potential upsets or else risk approaching $1 million in fines.

MORE: Midseason hoops review: SEC is for real, so is Cooper Flagg, and expansion has been OK.

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