“It’s Fun to be the Villain”: Vanderbilt Feels Like It's Playing a Road Game, but it Doesn’t Mind

The Commodores will take on Nebraska in a Cornhusker-heavy crowd in the Round of 32, but the players are fine with it.

Mar 19, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores forward Tyler Nickel (5) and guard Tyler Tanner (3) celebrate after defeating the McNeese Cowboys during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

OKLAHOMA CITY – A sea of red filled the streets on the outskirts of downtown Oklahoma City and rushed toward the doors of the Paycom Center ahead of Thursday morning’s Round of 64 game between No. 4 seed Nebraska and No. 13 seed Troy. Soon enough, all those basketball fans that were repping their beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers covered the seats inside the arena.

Within minutes, the stadium filled with exclusively navy blue chairs were turned red. All of the sudden, the atmosphere felt like the game was taking place at Nebraska’s home arena, Pinnacle Bank Arena. The loudness of Nebraska fans constantly cheering for their team made one thing clear: the Cornhuskers have a clear home court advantage going into Vanderbilt’s Round of 32 duel against Nebraska.

In the NCAA Tournament, most teams seeded one through four usually play at a location that is relatively in the same region of the country as their school’s location so that it can get somewhat of a home court advantage for the first two rounds. However, there may be no home court advantage in the tournament more true than the way in which Nebraska fans showed up to Oklahoma City. And that is something that Vanderbilt is going to have to weather.

“How lucky are we that we're going to play basically a road game in the NCAA Tournament. So much for a neutral site,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said in jest after the Commodores took down No. 12 seed McNeese Thursday. “The first thing is when I walked in, I really didn't see the crowd. I went straight to the locker room, Andy Katz told me that's the best opening crowd he's ever seen in all his NCAA Tournaments.”

Playing NCAA Tournament games at a neutral site is meant to level the playing field for both teams involved. But if Thursday is any indicator for Saturday’s game, that statement will not be the case. Vanderbilt will be experiencing as close to a true road game that any team will be playing in the tournament this season.

Vanderbilt would probably prefer to not play in a crowd that is more than likely going to be heavily against it, but it is not afraid of the challenge. The Commodores seem to know what they are up against. They also remember hearing some boos from Nebraska fans as they entered the court for warmups for their first round victory over McNeese.

“For sure,” Vanderbilt’s Tyler Nickel said on whether he felt like Saturday will be a road game. “We saw how they traveled and how the game was before us. They were booing us running onto the court, so it is what it is. We kind of expected that knowing we could see them next. It’ll be a fun environment for sure.”

Despite that, Vanderbilt does not seem to necessarily mind playing what is a pseudo-road game. The Commodores ran through the SEC gauntlet and experienced the atmospheres with the likes of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Missouri and Texas. And now they are just trying to do it again with a belief they can pull it off.

“We thrive in games like that. We’re good in neutral sites and road games, so we’re ready for it. We’re used to being in environments where people don’t want us to win and people say crazy stuff. But it’s fun to be the villain, too,” Nickel said.

The opportunity to play as the villain Saturday is something that Vanderbilt is not just shying away from, but it is a chance to embrace the spoiler role. The chance for players to get Vanderbilt to the Sweet 16 in 14 years by beating a team that is having its best season in program history in front of its own fans is a chance that the Commodores look forward to.

The key for Vanderbilt to relish in that feeling is to tune out the noise and stay together like the strongly-bonded roster has all season.

“You look in the stadium and it’s mostly red. Even for our game yesterday, there’s probably more Nebraska fans than there were Vanderbilt and McNeese combined,” Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner told Vandy On SI. “The villain role, the underdog role is something that we’re going to embrace tomorrow. It helps us stay together and play for each other more. We’re looking forward to it.

Vanderbilt has seen the type of atmosphere it will play in Saturday night. Hearing and seeing the crowd before it tipped off against McNeese jogged some interesting comparisons to the environments the Commodores have been in since conference play.

“I’ve compared it to Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. Those are the three that stuck out to me. They all have fans that care a lot about their team and don’t care whoever they are playing against. We’ve gotten our fair share of loud crowds and hostile environments. Coach has highlighted that we are prepared for this moment because of the work we put in and because of the situations we’ve been in before in the SEC,” Tanner said.

Vanderbilt will go into the lion’s den against Nebraska at 7:45 p.m. CT on TNT.

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