Time To Learn Something About Vanderbilt Basketball On Saturday; Column

Vanderbilt basketball will be tested on Saturday against one of the nation's best frontcourts in Florida's. Time to see if it can answer the call.

Feb 4, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu (9) and Vanderbilt Commodores forward Devin McGlockton (99) tip off at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE—-It may have felt like heartbreak for Mark Byington and this Vanderbilt basketball team when Tramon Mark hunted a contested look at the end of the shot clock, but that shot and Vanderbilt’s loss to Texas doesn’t have to define it. It doesn’t even have to define its week. 

Vanderbilt has an opportunity to all but erase that loss and the heartbreak that comes with it if things go to plan on Saturday. 

If Vanderbilt can pull this off on Saturday afternoon against Florida, it will send a loud reminder to the rest of the league that it should still be the favorite to win the SEC regular season title and will continue to legitimize its 16-1 start. Vanderbilt appeared to arrive in a way as a result of what it did against Alabama, but this one may eclipse that one’s importance. It won’t be as much of a statement if it wins, but it may be more important. 

That win indicated that Byington’s program has quickly made up ground on the offensive juggernaut that Nate Oats has built in Tuscaloosa, but Vanderbilt had still yet to be tested thoroughly in the frontcourt like it was Wednesday night in Austin. Vanderbilt was outrebounded 42-to-24 by Texas and Byington was consistently having to find ways around his two bigs battling foul trouble all night. 

The context of that performance makes this one all the more insightful for this Vanderbilt team. 

Florida possesses perhaps the deepest and most complete lineups of big men in the country with Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Rueben Chinyelu. As a result, Vanderbilt isn’t catching any breaks in the frontcourt like it did at times throughout the season’s first 16 games. Vanderbilt’s rebounding numbers and the general trends on its frontcourt look pretty with the whole season baked in, but a poor frontcourt performance against Florida could wake it up to the reality that its frontcourt problems may be more similar to the ones it had last season than it thought. 

If it’s able to handle Florida’s bigs and win, though, that would indicate that it doesn’t need a certain matchup or circumstance to win in March. Outside of Vanderbilt playing this game at home and having superior guard play to Florida’s, it doesn’t feel as if the circumstances favor it much. 

The time slot that Vanderbilt was given by the SEC–which saw it play in the late slot on the road on Wednesday night and the early slot on Saturday–is one that SEC teams went just 1-8 in last season. Pair that with Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner battling an illness this week and Byington didn’t seem overly optimistic about Vanderbilt’s chances on Saturday. 

“This is the toughest turnaround that the SEC gives you,” Byington said. “We have not been given any type of favors.” 

Any time Byington takes to an on-the-record conversation to voice his displeasure with something, he seemingly does it intentionally as to make an effort to inspire some sort of change. Byington did it with revenue sharing. He did it with the early-season crowds at Memorial Gymnasium. Here he is again. 

Mention of poor circumstance doesn’t show up on the NET Rankings or eventual NCAA Tournament resumes at the end of the season, though. It also doesn’t excuse Vanderbilt from any of the trends that may continue on Saturday. If it gets beat up on the glass and loses, it won't be because of the league office. If it beats Florida up on the glass and wins, it shouldn't go on about what it had to overcome to do so.

A loss isn’t the end of the world for Vanderbilt if it happens on Saturday–it’s still 16-2 and is firmly a contender for the league title in that case, but a loss in which Florida takes over on the glass and gets Vanderbilt’s bigs to sit on the bench could alter the perception around this Vanderbilt team significantly. 

Vanderbilt is clearly bigger, better and more physical than it was a season ago, but it’s got some questions to answer on Saturday. What it does will indicate plenty about how fortunate it needs to be with its draw in the NCAA Tournament. 

“It’s going to be extremely difficult playing the national champions, who are playing really well,” Byington said. “Our guys are going to be hungry, we’re going to go out and fight. Hopefully we’ll have a great crowd because we’re going to need their energy and we’re going to need everything we’ve got.”