The No. 15 Vanderbilt Commodores are taking on the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon. Vanderbilt is looking for back-to-back victories over the Tide, having upset Alabama 40-35 last season.
A big key for doing just that is quarterback Diego Pavia, who is in his second season with Vanderbilt. Saturday's game will also host this week's "College GameDay" on ESPN, and the guest picker is comedian Theo Von.
Von and Pavia went viral earlier this season after it was revealed that Von made a bet with the quarterback to go on a date with Pavia's mom. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's get into it.
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Who is Diego Pavia's mom?
Pavia's mother is Antoniette Padilla, who raised the quarterback as a single mother.
"She raised me a winner,' Pavia said of his mom at the time, according to VandySports.
"My mom, she hates losing more than she loves winning."
Pavia has had high praise for his mother's sacrifices while raising him and his siblings when he was growing. From a 2024 story in The Athletic:
Pavia credits his mother, Antoinette Padilla, for instilling in him a simple philosophy: If you want something, you work for it.
“My mom, she’s hard-hat, lunch-pail. She grew up with 13 brothers and sisters in a single home,” Pavia said.
Not until he was older, Pavia said, did he come to realize those nights his mother said she wasn’t hungry and ate only a little at dinner, she was making sure her kids had enough to eat.
Padilla caught the attention of fans on social media earlier this season.
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Antoinette Padilla goes viral during Vanderbilt games
Padilla caught the attention of college football fans late last season.
During one of Vanderbilt's games in November, the cameras showed Padilla in the stands. Let's just say some male fans watching the game took notice. This pretty much sums it up:
Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia's 'smokeshow' mom sends fans into frenzy after being spotted in stands https://t.co/y5cW6myzdE pic.twitter.com/riXFDHMb2J
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) November 11, 2024
During Vanderbilt's 31-7 upset victory over South Carolina earlier this season, Von was on the Commodores' sideline. SEC Network sideline reporter Cole Cubelic brought up Pavia's mom again and described a bet that Von made with Pavia involving his mother.
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Theo Von's Diego Pavia mom bet
Here's the clip from the South Carolina game earlier this season. Cubelic asks Von about a bet he made with the quarterback. Essentially if Vanderbilt were to win, Pavia would set Von up on a date with his mother. Von is seen and heard saying "yes, that's true.:"
Theo now gets to take Diego Pavia’s mom on a date. 😂 pic.twitter.com/ce1P1OXbbN
— CousinShane (@BigOrangeVolz) September 14, 2025
“My goal is, I would like to marry a nurse one day,” Von later said on the SEC Network broadcast, as transcribed by AL.com. “I don’t even know if I’d do it. I like being (Pavia’s) friend. I don’t want to end up being like his stepdad or something.”
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Tate McRae gets added to Theo Von-Diego Pavia bet
Pavia seemed to confirm the bet on X after the game. But he added that the deal was only square if Von set Pavia on a date with pop star Tate McRae:
what @TheoVon forgot is, I said it was a deal if and only if he told @tatemcrae to lemme take her on A1 date in Nashville 🤝 twitter make it happen 👀 https://t.co/x2ODiluXcQ
— Diego Pavia (@diegopavia02) September 15, 2025
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Did Theo Von go on a date with Diego Pavia's mom?
At this time, there isn't much out there regarding whether or not this date actually happened. But you can guess that Von will at least be asked about the bet at some point during his time on "College GameDay."