Who Does Vanderbilt Basketball Play in its First SEC Tournament Game?

The Commodores will see a familiar foe Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.

Vanderbilt's Jalen Washington (13), Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner (3) and Vanderbilt's AK Okereke (10) gather on the court during a men’s college basketball game between the Tennessee Vols and Vanderbilt Commodores, held at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., March 7, 2026. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vanderbilt basketball will tip off its SEC Tournament run Friday afternoon after sneaking into the No. 4 seed in the bracket following a win over Tennessee on the road Saturday.

The Commodores entered Thursday knowing it would be taking on either No. 12 seed Auburn or No. 5 seed Tennessee, but now they know who they will be playing. In Friday’s second game, Vanderbilt will take on Tennessee for the third time this season. The game is scheduled for an approximate 2:30 p.m. CT start time.

The two schools split the first meetings during the regular season, with the road team winning each matchup. Vanderbilt lost to Tennessee 69-65 in Memorial Gymnasium on Feb. 21 before Vanderbilt “ruined their senior night” on March 7 in a 86-82 win.

What will be different this time around is that Tennessee will have both J.P Estrella and Nate Ament on the floor. Estrella missed the first matchup due to injury while Ament was out against the Commodores Saturday.

Vanderbilt will take the floor following the first game of the day between No. 1 seed Florida and No. 9 seed Kentucky. The Commodores’ matchup against the Volunteers will tip off 25 minutes after the conclusion of the Florida and Kentucky game.

While Vanderbilt is going to be in the field of 68 when the NCAA Tournament bracket comes out Sunday evening, it still has plenty to play for. Currently, it seems that Vanderbilt is on the border between a No. 4 seed and No. 5 seed based on bracket projections. However, Vanderbilt has the opportunity to put itself more solidly on the 4-seed line or better if the Commodores are able to put together a deep run in Nashville this weekend.

The worst case scenario for Vanderbilt is probably a No. 5 seed after it went to Knoxville and won in its most recent game. Of course, some of that does depend on how teams behind Vanderbilt in bracket projections perform in their respective conference tournaments.

Vanderbilt finished the regular season with a 24-7 record in the second year of head coach Mark Byington’s tenure. The Commodores surpassed preseason expectations with the year that they have had, just two wins shy of tying a program record 26 wins.

It is the first time since the 2011-2012 season that Vanderbilt is seeded in the top four of the SEC Tournament and it is the first time that Vanderbilt has received a double-bye in the tournament.

Vanderbilt and Tennessee will begin Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT, or 25 minutes after the Florida-Kentucky game on ESPN.

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