Vanderbilt Basketball is in Rare Air These Days and it's No Fluke; Column
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Vanderbilt’s players walked toward the sideline, slapped hands with each member of New Haven’s roster and departed for a lap around the Memorial Gymnasium hardwood where it was set to slap hands with just about anyone in sight.
The run has become a tradition for this program over the years, but this particular team taking it seven times without experiencing what it’s like to do it after a loss is meaningful in itself. Perhaps the way Vanderbilt did it on Monday night after its non-conference finale was particularly meaningful.
As Vanderbilt’s players ran around the floor there was no mosh pit, no yelling and screaming and no sense of surprise. It was business as usual for this group, and it has been for awhile. What Vanderbilt did on Monday was particularly meaningful, though, even if it didn’t show it.
"It's the first part of the goal," Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. "You want to win as many non-conference games as you can and we had a really good 2025. We know how difficult 2026 is going to be."
The Commodores’ 96-53 win over New Haven sealed the program’s first undefeated non-conference season since the 2007-08 campaign. It’s a feat that only three Vanderbilt teams in the modern era have accomplished and one that indicates that this Vanderbilt team could be in elite air. Vanderbilt is also 13-0 for just the second time in program history.
How Vanderbilt got to this point is perhaps more impressive than where it is, too. The Commodores’ rèsumè includes three quad-one wins, three quad-two wins and just one game that was decided by single digits. Byington’s team has scored more than 80 points in all but one of its games. It’s been dominant and hasn’t showed any signs of weakness.
Byington’s team consistently indicated that it is mentally built to show up ready to play every night regardless of circumstance, can dictate the pace and style of play of games regardless of opponent, can stand up against physicality and can win on the road. Vanderbilt’s undefeated finish to this thing indicates its ability to consistently bring it and its ability to find a way to get the job done when it doesn’t have its fastball.
Perhaps the most important thing this group has demonstrated is an intangible ability that most around the country can’t say they have at this stage. Vanderbilt basketball knows how to win. It has winning players and has come together to consistently yield results. Perhaps it will take its lumps at some point, but it appears to be equipped to handle what’s coming.
“I don’t think we’re necessarily chasing perfection, but we’re just trying to be the best team we can be,” Vanderbilt big man Jalen Washington–who went for a career-high 21 points on Monday–said. “We knew that coming into this game, having this be our best game of the season was our goal and just sticking together, finishing out 2025 and non-conference was the plan.”
On an individual level, Vanderbilt found in these 13 games that it has a point guard that’s worked his way into NBA Draft discussions as a sophomore and is at the very least one of the best guards in the SEC. It also found that its bet on Duke Miles–who missed Monday’s game due to an illness–taking a step forward now that he’s out of the shadow of lottery pick Jeremiah Fears and that returning wing Tyler Nickel has quietly taken a leap that could result in him becoming an All-SEC player by the end of this. Despite sub 30% 3-point shooting percentages, it also appears as if Byington and staff were correct in their evaluations that indicated Tyler Harris and Washington could be ideal supporting cast members.
Now that its non-league work is done, this Vanderbilt team is top 10 in KenPom, top 10 in Bart Torvik, No. 11 in the AP Top 25, seventh in scoring, eighth in offensive efficiency and 14th in defensive efficiency. It’s also the only undefeated SEC team remaining.
From its trouncing of Lipscomb on opening night, to its similarly-impressive blowout wins over Wake Forest and SMU as well as Monday night’s non-league finale against New Haven, Vanderbilt has earned every seemingly outlandish declaration that can be tied to it at this stage.
This business is over, on to the more important stuff for this Vanderbilt team.
“That was our goal coming into the season,” Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton said of running the table in non-conference play. “But, we’ve gotta move past it and we’ve got SEC play coming up so we need to prepare for that.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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