Where Does Vanderbilt Basketball's Rèsumè Stand After Kentucky Win?

Mark Byington’s Vanderbilt team is rolling again after its 80-55 win over Kentucky in which it made a statement that it can still be a high seed in the NCAA and SEC Tournaments despite a recent three-game losing streak.

The Commodores take the floor on Saturday as the No. 18 team in the AP Top with a top 10 offense in KenPom as well as the No. 16 defense. Vanderbilt’s last two performances demonstrate its staying power on both ends.

Tuesday, Vanderbilt was far more difficult to stop than the group of household college basketball names that it faced. The Commodores went up by as much as 28 points on their way to an 80-55 win over Kentucky, held the Wildcats to 25.0% shooting from 3-point range and 32.2% shooting from the field.

“We have a chance to have a good team,” Byington said after the Commodores’ opener. “When you’re a coach you want hope for the season, you want optimism for the season. Some people lie about it, but I can say the truth and say I’m excited about this group. We’ll get better and better.”

As Vanderbilt has taken a leap 2025-26–Byington’s second year at the helm–it’s does so with a roster including just three returning scholarship players in Tyler Tanner, Devin McGlockton and Nickel. All three of which have taken on significant roles on a team that possesses an eight-man transfer class headlined by TCU point guard Frankie Collins, North Carolina big man Jalen Washington, Washington transfer Tyler Harris, Miles and Cornell wing AK Okereke.

“The priority this recruiting season was to gain some more length, size,” Vanderbilt assistant coach Xavier Joyner told Vandy on SI over the summer. “We knew going into last year we were maybe the smallest team in the SEC regarding length, size so we wanted to upgrade that, which we did.”

That class has given the Commodores a chance to be a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than they’ve ever been. Here’s where their rèsumè stands these days.

Quad wins and losses:

Quad 1A: 0-3

Wins: N/A

Losses: Florida, Arkansas, Texas

Quad 1: 4-3

Wins: Alabama, UCF, Saint Mary’s, Wake Forest, VCU

Losses: Texas, Arkansas, Florida

Quad 2: 4-0

Wins: LSU, Kentucky, Memphis, South Carolina, SMU, Mississippi State

Quad 3: 2–0

Lipscomb, Western Kentucky

Quad 4: 5-0

Eastern Kentucky, Texas Southern, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Central Arkansas, New Haven

Other valuable metrics:

NET: 12th

Torvik: 12th

KenPom: 12th

Strength of record: 12th

KPI: 8th

Wins above bubble: 8th

BPI: 7th

NCSOS: 138th