Vanderbilt vs. Texas Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for Wednesday, Jan. 14

The Vanderbilt Commodores are undefeated so far in the 2025-26 season, and they’ll look to move to 17-0 on Wednesday night as road favorites against the Texas Longhorns.

Texas is off to a bit of a slow start at 10-6, but it has played a very tough strength of schedule. According to KenPom, the Longhorns have faced multiple teams in the top-10 in adjusted efficiency rating, including UConn and Duke.

The Longhorns have played a bunch of games against ranked opponents, and they recently upset Alabama (92-88) to move to 1-2 in SEC play.

Can Texas hang around with a Vanderbilt team that also beat Alabama (by six) but hasn’t played many ranked opponents this season?

Here’s a look at the odds, a key player to watch and my prediction for this SEC battle on Wednesday night.

Vanderbilt vs. Texas Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Spread

Vanderbilt -5.5 (-105)
Texas +5.5 (-115)

Moneyline

Vanderbilt: -230
Texas: +190

Total

166.5 (Over -112/Under -108)

Vanderbilt vs. Texas How to Watch

Date: Wednesday. Dec. 14
Time: 9:00
Venue: Moody Center
How to Watch (TV): ESPN2
Vanderbilt record: 16-0
Texas record: 10-6

Vanderbilt vs. Texas Key Player to Watch

Tyler Tanner, Guard, Vanderbilt

This season, Tyler Tanner is leading the Commodores in scoring at 17.2 points per game, and he’s been even better in SEC play, scoring 19, 29 and 20 points in three games.

The sophomore is shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from 3, and he should have a major role against a Texas team that is just 117th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency.

While the Longhorns have played pretty well against ranked opponents this season (their only double-digit losses were to Duke and Tennessee), they’re going to have their hands full with Tanner and Duke Miles, who recently returned to score 36 points over the team’s last two games.

Tanner also leads Vandy in assists per game (5.4) and is averaging 2.6 steals, which is good for second on the team.

Vanderbilt vs. Texas Prediction and Pick

Even though Vanderbilt has yet to lose this season, I’m going to take the points in this matchup with Texas at home.

Vanderbilt is No. 5 in KenPom’s latest rankings – based on adjusted efficiency margin – but the Commodores have just one game (their win over Alabama) against a ranked opponent this season. Meanwhile, Texas hung tough with UConn (eight-point loss), Arizona State (one-point loss) and recently upset Alabama.

Now, Texas has been wildly inconsistent, especially on the defensive end, but the Longhorns are 5-4 against the spread with an average margin of +21.2 points in their five games at home.

Vanderbilt may end up winning this game, but it did fail to cover in its last game in SEC play.

Pick: Texas +5.5 (-115 at DraftKings)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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