Where Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Ranks in ESPN’s Updated Bracketology: The Anchor
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It may be mid-December, but it is never too late to look ahead at some early season projections for March Madness, specifically for Vanderbilt men’s basketball.
Vanderbilt has been red hot to start the season, with a 9-0 record as it enters its 10th game of the season against Central Arkansas Saturday night. The Commodores are the only SEC team that remains undefeated at this point and have jumped up to the No. 15 team in the country.
As the college basketball season is in the sixth week of the season, bracketologists such as Joe Lunardi of ESPN are starting to put out their projection for the NCAA Tournament in March. In Lunardi’s latest bracket projection, Vanderbilt is listed as a No. 3-seed in the East Region, playing No. 14-seed Arkansas State in the Round of 64.
Lunardi has Vanderbilt slated to play in Oklahoma City for the first two rounds, where it would play the winner of No. 6-seed USC and No. 11-seed Saint Louis in the Round of 32. In the East Region, he has Duke as the No. 1-seed, where the regional final will run through Washington, D.C.
Vanderbilt has played like, if not, better than a No. 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament thus far. The Commodores have been explosive and highly efficient on offense, crushing the competition that steps in their way. In a season where the SEC does not seem to be as much of a gauntlet as it was a year ago, Vanderbilt has an incredible in front of itself where it can potentially take over as the frontrunner in the conference this year.
Vanderbilt is currently the second-highest ranked team in the SEC, only behind No. 12 Alabama. The Commodores have four more nonconference games before the calendar turns to SEC play the first week of January.
Vanderbilt and Central Arkansas tip off at 5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network Saturday.
This Weekend’s Commodores Schedule
No. 15 Vanderbilt men’s basketball vs. Central Arkansas, Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at the Heisman Trophy Ceremony, Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ABC/ESPN.
Yesterday’s Commodores Results Today
There were no games scheduled yesterday.
Did You Notice?
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was recognized by a couple national media outlets for his performance this season. CBS Sports named Pavia the College Football Player of the Year while On3 Sports named Pavia was voted as the On3 Heisman Winner by the outlet’s staff over Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Pavia will learn if he is the official Heisman Trophy winner or not Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT when ESPN hosts the Heisman Trophy Ceremony.
Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2026 Baseball Season Opener
67 days
Commodores Quote of The Day
“My kids love it so much. That’s the only thing that makes me even think about playing any longer. I always told myself I’d ask my son, ‘Do you want daddy to play baseball or do you want daddy to be home all the time?’ I asked him before this year and he said, ‘I want you to be home.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ Now when I ask him, he says, ‘No, I want you to keep playing.'"David Price
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.