Assessing Vanderbilt Soccer’s Title Hopes: The Anchor

Vanderbilt soccer is playing its Round of 32 game in the NCAA Tournament Thursday night against Clemson. The Commodores have been red hot, ripping off nine consecutive wins en route to a SEC Tournament Championship and a first round NCAA Tournament victory.

With Vanderbilt earning the No. 1 seed in its region and one of the top four spots overall in the tournament, the Commodores have hopes of a National Championship. And there is a real possibility Vanderbilt can get there.

If Vanderbilt were to go all the way in the tournament, its path would be Clemson this Thursday before playing the winner of Iowa or LSU in the round of 16. LSU is another one of the hottest teams in the country right now. Vanderbilt and LSU just played in an instant classic in the SEC Championship in which the schools went to 10 rounds of penalty kicks before the Commodores beat the Tigers.

From there, Vanderbilt would have to go through most likely TCU in order to get to the national semifinals. The Horned Frogs entered the tournament with a 15-2-2 record and beat Grambling 7-0 in the Round of 64. If Vanderbilt were to win its regional, its opponent in the final four would more than likely be either No. 1-seed Notre Dame or No. 2-seed Georgetown. Vanderbilt played Georgetown early in the season and beat the Hoyas 1-0. Both teams are among the top in college soccer, but Vanderbilt has proven that it can beat teams of their caliber considering the Sep. 4 win over Georgetown.

The two most likely teams to make it out of the opposite side of the bracket if higher seeds won would be Stanford or Virginia. One of Stanford’s wins this season came against Stanford.

In summary, Vanderbilt’s path to a National Championship would look like this if higher seeds kept winning.

R32 - Clemson

R16 - LSU

Regional Final - TCU

National Semifinal - Notre Dame or Georgetown

National Championship - Stanford or Virginia.

Today’s Commodores Schedule

Vanderbilt men’s tennis at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, Day 2.

Vanderbilt women’s tennis at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, Day 2.

No. 17 Vanderbilt women’s basketball at Western Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

Vanderbilt swimming at the Phil Hansel Invitational, Day 1.

Yesterday’s Commodores Results Today

There were no games yesterday.

Did You Notice?

Vanderbilt volleyball is taking No. 10-seed Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Volleyball Tournament on Friday. The two teams are coming off a match over the weekend in which Vanderbilt came out victorious in a five-set victory over the Bulldogs. The win was Vanderbilt’s third conference win of the season as it finished with a SEC record of 3-12.

Vanderbilt is the No. 15-seed of the 16-team bracket. While the road to a conference championship will be difficult, the Commodores have a good matchup in the first round. First serve for Vanderbilt’s rematch with Mississippi State is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT Friday on SEC Network.

Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2026 Baseball Season Opener

88 days

Commodores Quote of The Day

[After losing to Vanderbilt] “Before you start building back anything, you have to hit rock bottom. This is rock bottom.”
Phil Fulmer on this date in 2005