How Much Did Vanderbilt Basketball's Rèsumè Suffer After Oklahoma Loss?

Vanderbilt basketball fell to Oklahoma on Saturday, but cleaned up the margin of victory in the end. Was the late comeback enough to keep it in favorable standing with the metrics?

Feb 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Tanner (3) and Oklahoma Sooners guard Dayton Forsythe (7) fight for the loose ball during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Mark Byington’s Vanderbilt team is still without Duke Miles and Frankie Collins in the lineup and finally felt the hurt of that reality. 

The Commodores took the floor on Saturday as the No. 15 team in the AP Top with a top 15 offense in KenPom as well as the No. 17 defense. Vanderbilt’s last three performances prior to that outing demonstrated its staying power on both ends. This one, though, was different. Vanderbilt suffered what was at the time a quad-three loss to Oklahoma and looked oddly mortal.

That didn’t look like the same Vanderbilt team that went up by as much as 28 points on their way to an 80-55 win over Kentucky, held the Wildcats to 25.0% shooting from 3-point range and 32.2% shooting from the field. It was, though. 

“We have a chance to have a good team,” Byington said after the Commodores’ opener. “When you’re a coach you want hope for the season, you want optimism for the season. Some people lie about it, but I can say the truth and say I’m excited about this group. We’ll get better and better.”

As Vanderbilt has taken a leap 2025-26–Byington’s second year at the helm–it’s does so with a roster including just three returning scholarship players in Tyler Tanner, Devin McGlockton and Nickel. All three of which have taken on significant roles on a team that possesses an eight-man transfer class headlined by TCU point guard Frankie Collins, North Carolina big man Jalen Washington, Washington transfer Tyler Harris, Miles and Cornell wing AK Okereke. 

“The priority this recruiting season was to gain some more length, size,” Vanderbilt assistant coach Xavier Joyner told Vandy on SI over the summer. “We knew going into last year we were maybe the smallest team in the SEC regarding length, size so we wanted to upgrade that, which we did.”

That class has given the Commodores a chance to be a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than they’ve ever been. Here’s where their rèsumè stands these days. 

Quad wins and losses: 

Quad 1A: 1-3

Wins: UCF

Losses: Florida, Arkansas, Texas

Quad 1: 6-3

Wins: Kentucky, Alabama, UCF, Wake Forest, Saint Mary’s, VCU

Losses: Texas, Arkansas, Florida

Quad 2: 5-1

Wins: LSU, Memphis, South Carolina, SMU, Mississippi State

Loss: Oklahoma

Quad 3: 2–0

Lipscomb, Western Kentucky

Quad 4: 5-0

Eastern Kentucky, Texas Southern, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Central Arkansas, New Haven 

Other valuable metrics: 

NET: 14th

Torvik: 14th

KenPom: 14th

Strength of record: 14th

KPI: 13th 

Wins above bubble: 14th

BPI: 16th

NCSOS: 138th