Will Vanderbilt Basketball's Game Against Kentucky Start On Time? The Latest

Amid severe weather, Vanderbilt basketball and Kentucky take the floor at Memorial Gymnasium.

Jan 24, 2026; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores guard Duke Miles (2) drives to the basket as Mississippi State Bulldogs center Quincy Ballard (15) defends during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE—Amid severe Nashville weather, Vanderbilt is set to host Kentucky at Memorial Gymnasium.

The indication is that the plan is still to play the game as regularly scheduled. A source told Vandy On SI that Kentucky has made the trip to Nashville safely and that both teams intend to play the game at 8 p.m. CT on Monday.

Here’s what else we know:

-Memorial Gymnasium does have power, as does most—if not all—of Vanderbilt’s campus

-Vanderbilt has cancelled Tuesday classes on campus

-It’s worth noting that the precedent the SEC has set is that keeping the league on schedule is more important than crowd size. 

That means that there likely has to be something logistically wrong with an involved party for them to postpone a day.

-Nashville’s main roads have generally been taken care of, although plenty of side roads are still presenting challenges.

Vanderbilt has put itself among the nation’s elite as a result of its start to the season that includes wins over Alabama, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, LSU, SMU, Saint Mary’s, VCU, UCF and all of its buy game opponents. The Commodores’ rèsumè is among the strongest in all of college basketball as a result of their upper-quad wins as well as their drastic margin of victory in non-power five games.

The Commodores are ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25 after a blowout loss to Arkansas and bouncing back with a blowout win over Mississippi State. 

“We had to just get back to ourselves,” Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles said in his postgame radio hit after Vanderbilt’s win over Mississippi State. “Honestly, we went through a little slump with the three games we lost–one of them was a blowout–but we were just trying to get back to Vanderbilt basketball.” 

Vanderbilt looks to continue its positive trends in a matchup with Mark Pope’s Kentucky team this week. The Wildcats were expected to be a national title contender as a result of their high-dollar roster and Pope’s success in year one of his tenure.

Kentucky is 14-6, but has resurged recently. Pope’s team is on a five-game winning streak and has taken down Tennessee, Texas and Mississippi State in the last few weeks. 

If Vanderbilt and Kentucky can play on Tuesday, it will be one of the sport’s marquee matchups of the night and a litmus test for both teams as they look to build on their positive momentum.