Those of us older than about 25 probably can recall the oft-replayed 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz.”

There’s a particular line in the movie, just after Dorothy and her dog are caught in a tornado and magically transported to the land of Oz, that would be an annoyingly overused meme if it was part of a blockbuster this summer.

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.

Dorothy uttered that line as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings. The phrase has absorbed on a broader meaning in our lexicon, meaning “none of this is familiar.”

That’s exactly how Vanderbilt fans — and head coach Derek Mason — must’ve felt last Aug. 28.

After winning a combined 18 games in ’12 and ’13 under head coach James Franklin, the team hosted Temple on Thursday night to kick off the Mason era. The Owls, of course, finished 2-10 in ’13 and held little hope of making a bowl game (Temple eventually finished 6-6).

But after a lengthy rain delay, in front of a painfully sparse crowd, Vanderbilt got shredded, 37-7, in Nashville. The Commodores turned the ball over seven times, rotating quarterbacks Patton Robinette, Stephen Rivers and Johnny McCrary seemingly every possession.

It was the kind of national embarrassment that Vandy avoided during Franklin’s three-year tenure, during which every season ended in a bowl appearance.

A 34-31 win againt UMass and a 21-20 victory ahead of Charleston Southern hardly put a smile on the face of the most passionate Commodores fan. The team finished 3-9, 0-8 in SEC play, despite playing in what almost everyone considered to be a “down” SEC East.

OK, so in truth, the “Wizard of Oz” metaphor is far too familiar to long-suffering Vandy fans. The Franklin years were more like the dream world of Oz, and now it’s back to reality.

But, like it or not, expectations in Nashville have risen. The fan base isn’t content to serve as a punching bag for every SEC team, including Kentucky. Franklin proved the team can be better than that.

And then there’s the fact that Vanderbilt gets a 1/15th share of the SEC’s astronomical revenue — or, in plain English, the athletic department just inherited a $31.07 million check due to its conference affiliation.

You may have noticed that even the Mississippi coaches, Hugh Freeze and Dan Mullen, are making more than $4 million per football season at this point. Even the ‘Dores can afford to have some standards when it comes to the on-field performance of the football team.

Mason already is showing up within “hot seat” posts nationally, including this one from NFL.com. To go from a value-rising defensive coordinator for a Stanford program competing for Pac-12 titles to this has to be dizzying. But there may not be a lot of time for Mason to settle in and learn on the job. Not after last year’s debacle.

The first-time head coach already got rid of a number of assistants, including the offensive and defensive coordinators. That’s usually the scapegoat move three or four years into a tenure. Mason pulled the ripcord after just 12 games.

I’m not so sure that Mason can afford to lose all eight SEC games again in 2015 and keep his job, even if the team manages to slide through its non-conference schedule.

Hiring veteran offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig was a wise move, though it stings like heck that Patton Robinette decided to retire from football one year early. The most pressing need in ’14, and the No. 1 offseason priority, was to determine a starting quarterback.

Unless and until incoming four-star Kyle Shurmur is ready to start in the SEC, Robinette looked like the only option capable of playing mediocre-to-adequate at the position. It’s far from ideal, but Mason would be well-served to at least pick one option at quarterback and stick with him, unlike last year’s game of roulette.

The defense is another big piece to the equation. Mason, a struggling head coach still learning to delegate — one who didn’t ace his first chance to put together a staff — decided none of the replacement candidates for defensive coordinator fit what he wanted, so he’s assuming the responsibility himself.

The move still doesn’t seem prudent to me, but Vandy certainly needs to keep games low-scoring as much as possible. Maybe Mason is the best man for the job.

In addition to winning an SEC game or two, looking competent with decisions (especially at quarterback) and installing and maintaining a hard-nosed, successful defense — which was Mason’s biggest selling point as a head coach — he needs to prove he can be a CEO type of a multi-million dollar corporation.

Because that’s what every SEC football program is at this point. Even Vanderbilt.

If Mason can’t sell the program to the fans, which Franklin did so well, and come across as competent and organized, which he didn’t in ’14, it may not matter if Vandy can scratch out wins against the likes of Houston and Kentucky in ’15.

But he’s got an opportunity to learn from last year’s mistakes and take another crack at it this year. If not, much like Will Muschamp early in 2015, he could be “back in Kansas” all too soon as a coveted defensive coordinator candidate.