Did Vanderbilt Just Lose Its Spot in NCAA Tournament?

The Commodores have lost three-straight games to NCAA Tournament bubble teams. Could one of those teams replace Vanderbilt in the big dance?

Vanderbilt guard Chris Manon, center, reacts on the bench during a NCAA college basketball first round game against Texas at the men’s Southeastern Conference Tournament Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt lost 79-72. | Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Eight days ago, Vanderbilt was nearly assured of its spot in the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Commodores had just concluded a six-game gauntlet some of the nation’s best teams and ended it with three-straight wins.

Various NCAA Tournament forecasts had taken the Commodores off the list of bubble teams and looked at as a lock for an invitation. But then the final week of the regular season played out and Vanderbilt lost games to two NCAA bubble teams, Arkansas and Georgia.

Those losses didn’t really alter Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament fate, but Tuesday’s first-round loss in the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament to Texas, 79-72, has firmly put the Commodores’ fate in the hands of the NCAA Tournament’s selection committee.

"We don't have no worries,” Vanderbilt’s Devin McGlockton said after the Commodores loss to Texas. “Our play will just say for itself. We had a tremendous season. That's what we got to go off of.”

“What the Selection Committee does is they look at your entire season,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “When you do that, our top-25 wins, our quad one wins, being in this league, showing how good of basketball we can play. We beat a lot of teams that are probably going to be 1 or 2 seeds this year.

"We're a little bit banged up right now. I anticipate us being fully healthy in the next couple days. Then we will look like we looked maybe a week and a half ago. We've played great basketball the entire year. But I think we had a stretch there in February where I think we were one of the best 20 teams in the country. We'll get back to that with the next opportunity."

Despite McGlockton and his coach’s optimistic attitudes, Vanderbilt fans should be nervous.

The Commodores have now lost three-straight games to teams on the bubble – Arkansas, Georgia and Texas. The Razorbacks and Bulldogs had (most likely) played themselves into the NCAA Tournament. Texas, though, needed to do more to get into the tournament.

That process started with beating Vanderbilt on Wednesday and will most likely need to continue Thursday against Texas A&M. And when one team earns its way into the tournament, another team has to get excluded.

And that team could end up being Vanderbilt.

Update:

As of Thursday morning, Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney had Vanderbilt listed as one of the last four teams in with a first-round bye. "Texas vaults into the field after its Quad 1 win over Vanderbilt combined with Ohio State’s loss to Iowa. The Buckeyes are essentially eliminated at 17–15 from serious at-large contention, leaving Texas, North Carolina and a trio of mid-majors in the mix for what is currently the last spot in the field. That spot may not last long though: Texas likely needs a win over Texas A&M to stay in the field after today, though no one seems to be rushing to claim the last spot in the Big Dance." The bad news for Vanderbilt is that he projects the Commodores to face Kansas in a 7-10 matchup in the West Regional.

The 68-team bracket for the NCAA Tournament will be announced at 5 p.m., Sunday on CBS.