Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt Gets Another Chance for an Upset Win at Home

Vanderbilt has already beaten two top 10 teams at Memorial Gymnasium and faces No. 1 Auburn Tuesday night after the Tigers' suffered their second loss.
Taylor Hodges|
Vanderbilt’s A.J. Hoggard (11) and M.J. Collins Jr. (2) celebrate after defeating Texas in a NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt won 86-78.
Vanderbilt’s A.J. Hoggard (11) and M.J. Collins Jr. (2) celebrate after defeating Texas in a NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt won 86-78. | Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Vanderbilt Commodores

The last time a No. 1-ranked team from Alabama came to Nashville, Tenn. resulted in that team falling from its top spot. Tuesday night, Vanderbilt gets a chance to do it again.

The Commodores (17-6, 5-5 SEC) will host No. 1 Auburn (21-2, 9-1 SEC) at Memorial Gymnasium starting at 6 p.m. on SEC Network. With a pair of home wins against top 10 teams already on their resume, the Commodores have a legitimate chance to try out their new post-game celebration policy.

Vanderbilt has been great at home this season, going 12-1 in games at Memorial Gymnasium, including 4-1 in SEC games. A top-ranked team coming into a game like this would be looked at as a trap game. However, this isn’t your typical trap game.

Auburn is coming off a 90-81 loss to Florida and should be motivated to bounce back from that loss. But will that be enough to keep the Tigers from looking past Vanderbilt and towards one of the season’s biggest games?

The basketball version of the Iron Bowl will pit No. 1 Auburn against No. 2 Alabama on Saturday. It’d be hard for either of them to not look past their next opponents and ahead to the Iron Bowl.

But Vanderbilt isn’t a team to be taken lightly. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl knows this.

“They’re 12-1 [at home], beating Tennessee who was ranked sixth and Kentucky was No. 9,” Pearl said in his Monday press conference. “This has been a tough place for us to play, historically.”

While true (Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 90-58), Auburn may have enough talent to overcome all of that. The Tigers’ offense is one of the best in the nation, averaging 85 points per game and is led by player of the year candidate Johni Broome (18.1 ppg, 10.9 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game and 2.7 blocks per game). Auburn has four more players averaging 10 or more points per game and fifth averaging 9.8 ppg.

An interesting subplot to Tuesday’s game will be the turnover battle. Auburn’s offense turns the ball over at one of the lowest rates in the nation (9.3 per game) and Vanderbilt ranks in the top 20 in the nation in turnovers forced (15.35 per game).

Tipoff between Vanderbilt and Auburn is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network.

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI:

Published
Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

Home/Basketball