Where Vanderbilt Basketball Stands in Bracketology: The Anchor

The Commodores are a third of the way through conference play as the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament sits seven weeks from today. While there are plenty of games still to go, the postseason picture for the NCAA Tournament is in its early stages of taking shape.

Barring a collapse of wide proportions, Vanderbilt at the very least will be in this season’s March Madness tournament with a record of (17-2/16-3) and plenty of opportunities to stack wins through February and March. The question is what seed and what region Vanderbilt will find itself in by the time mid-March rolls around. The SEC is having another competitive year. Though it is quite unlikely at this point that the conference will have 14 teams in the tournament this season, the SEC standings are tight no less.

Vanderbilt entered this week tied for second in the conference with a 3-2 record in SEC play. But Vanderbilt has the best overall record amongst the 16 teams in the conference. Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest bracket prediction for the NCAA Tournament. In his updates bracket, Lunardi has Vanderbilt in the tournament as a No. 3-seed going up against No. 14-seed Wright State in the East Region.

Vanderbilt would be playing in St. Louis, Missouri if the Commodores were to land in this spot. This would not be a bad spot for Vanderbilt as it stands. This bracket prediction would slate Vanderbilt to play either No. 6-seed Louisville or No. 11-seed San Diego State in the second round, a matchup Vanderbilt would likely be favored in.

Going forward, Vanderbilt has a rather favorable stretch coming up in which the Commodores have an opportunity to stack wins together and stay within that 3-seed line, or even go back up to the 2-seed line. Vanderbilt’s next seven games are again unranked conference teams. It goes to Mississippi State on Saturday before returning home against Kentucky on Jan, 27. After that, its next four games are against Ole Miss and Auburn on the road and Oklahoma and Texas A&M at home.

If Vanderbilt wins the games it should going forward, it should stay around a No. 3 or No.4-seed in the NCAA Tournament with chances to gain a high seed with strong wins sprinkled in toward the final stretch of the regular season.

Today’s Commodores Schedule

There are no games scheduled today.

Yesterday’s Commodores Results Today

No. 15 Vanderbilt men’s basketball (beat/lost to) No. 20 Arkansas (score).

Did You Notice?

Vanderbilt women’s basketball is one of two undefeated teams remaining after it beat No. 7 Michigan Monday. UConn is the only other undefeated team. The Commodores return to action in Memorial Gymnasium Thursday night with a matchup against Auburn at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

But Sunday will be perhaps Vanderbilt’s biggest test of the season. The Commodores hit the road to take on No. 2 South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN. It will be a showdown of the two best teams in the SEC and possibly the country. The game could also be a preview of the SEC Tournament Championship come March.

Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2026 Baseball Season Opener

23 days

Commodores Quote of The Day

“It isn’t very different in some ways than the military. You take people from all different experiences, backgrounds and skill levels, and throw them into one group of people—whether that is the Army or the Navy for example—and mesh them into one core group working towards one goal. It is the part of college athletics that can take the most time if you let it go and leave it to chance; chances are it could take your team over. I think through good leadership, you can teach that.”
Tim Corbin