Vanderbilt Commodores Face Steep Challenges To Secure NCAA Tournament Spot

The Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball team has gotten off to an incredible start in the Mark Byington era.

In his first season as head coach, he led the team to a 12-1 record during their non-conference schedule, winning more games than they had in three out of the last five years under Jerry Stackhouse.

During SEC play, the team has held its own.

To this point, the Commodores are 3-3 with victories over the LSU Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks and a major upset against the Tennessee Volunteers. Their three losses were to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Missouri Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.

With a 15-4 overall record, Vanderbilt is right in the mix of what will be a crowded NCAA Tournament bubble. Their NET Ranking is a very solid No. 37 and to this point, they are 4-4 against Quad 1 and 2 opponents.

There are going to be plenty more opportunities to rack up quality victories as the SEC is the deepest conference in the country. Right now, there are currently nine teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and five in the Top 9, including the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers.

Along with the Commodores, the Georgia Bulldogs also received votes for the top 25 this week, as every night is a daunting task.

Vanderbilt is in the midst of a truly brutal stretch that started against Tennessee. That was the first in a stretch of playing seven out of nine games against teams ranked in the Top 9.

So far, they have split their games, defeating the Volunteers but getting beaten by Alabama.

They are going to have to continue splitting games, at the very least, to stay in the mix for an NCAA Tournament spot as some metrics don’t look fondly upon their resume right now.

As shared by Neil Paine of ESPN, the Commodores have only a 24% chance of making the tournament right now.

“The models are all over the place on the Commodores (15-3), but BPI is much lower on them than the overall meta-forecast average of 57%. Vanderbilt has been up and down in conference play (ranging from losses to Mississippi State and Mizzou to a recent signature win against Tennessee), and it plays a crushing remaining schedule -- hardest in the nation by BPI -- but it is working from a good early foundation.”

The SEC has a real chance of setting the record, which is 11 by the Big East in 2011, for teams to make a single tournament, as there have been projections sending as many as 13 teams.

Vanderbilt hasn’t been in the tournament since 2017 and has a real chance to end that streak this campaign. If they can finish near the .500 mark in the SEC, they are going to have as strong of a resume as any team currently on the bubble.