Vanderbilt Basketball has Date With In-State Foe Set

The Commodores will host Memphis in Memorial this season on the back half of a home-and-home. Read here for the date.

Vanderbilt coach ark Byington talks with his team during a first-round game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament between McNeese and Vanderbilt at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, March 19, 2026. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vanderbilt men’s basketball’s 2026-2027 schedule is slowly, but surely coming together one game at a time. Tuesday, a date was set for the Commodores’ third known opponent of its nonconference slate.

Per a post on Twitter/X, Vanderbilt will host in-state rival Memphis on Nov. 10 in Memorial Gymnasium for the back half of the home-and-home that began a season ago.

Last season, Vanderbilt went to FedEx Forum in Memphis and took down the Tigers in overtime with a 77-70 win on Dec. 17. Vanderbilt jumped out to a lead in the second half that night before Memphis tied the game up in the final minutes of regulation. In the end, Vanderbilt held on for the win.

While Memphis ended up having a down year a season ago, it was still one of Vanderbilt’s better wins in nonconference play. In a little under six months from today, Vanderbilt will look to sweep the home-and-home against Penny Hardaway’s team.

Next season’s meeting will be the 18th meeting all-time between the two programs. Vanderbilt currently holds the all-time series lead with nine wins to Memphis’ eight in the first 17 meetings. November’s matchup will be the first since November 2022 that Memphis will be visiting Memorial.

Memphis is the third game set on Vanderbilt’s schedule for next season. The Commodores also know they will be hosting Wake Forest on Nov. 5 to finish off that home-and-home series before also playing against UCF in Memorial Gymnasium on Nov. 20.

All three games that Vanderbilt has confirmed thus far are teams it played on the road to begin a home-and-home series a season ago. In addition to the bye games that Vanderbilt is still waiting to schedule, it is also waiting to hear who and where it will play its opponent for the SEC/ACC Challenge. That game will likely be played in the first week of December.

Vanderbilt is coming off a 27-9 season, led by head coach Mark Byington, in which it far surpassed preseason expectations. The Commodores finished in the top four of the SEC before eventually securing a No. 5 seed and an appearance in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt hit the transfer portal hard this offseason after losing a few key pieces from last season’s roster. The Commodores addressed their team needs and are now waiting to hear the decision of point guard Tyler Tanner. Tanner has until Wednesday night to decide whether he will stay in this year’s NBA Draft or play at Vanderbilt for another year. If Tanner comes back to Vanderbilt, the Commodores may have themselves one of the best rosters in the conference.

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