Vanderbilt Commodores Squarely on NCAA Tournament Bubble Entering SEC Play
The Vanderbilt Commodores are off to an incredible start in the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season.
New head coach Mark Byington has his team playing at a high level, as they wrapped up their regular season nonconference schedule with another blowout victory.
On Monday, they defeated the New Orleans Privateers to improve their record to 12-1.
Given their weak strength of schedule, the Commodores haven’t cracked the top 25 yet, or even been considered.
To this point, they have yet to receive a single vote.
But, that will change if they can carry their success into SEC play.
That will be a daunting task since the conference is loaded with stellar programs. There are currently 10 ranked teams from the SEC, including the No. 1 and No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers and Auburn Tigers. Another two received votes to be ranked.
Navigating that schedule will be a daunting task, but Vanderbilt has built some positive momentum.
They are one of the most efficient offensive teams in the nation, which has helped balance out a sometimes shaky defense that struggles to rebound the ball.
If they can overcome those weaknesses, the Commodores could be dancing come March for the first time since 2017.
As teams prepare for conference play to get underway across the country, Vanderbilt's outlook for the NCAA Tournament is very positive.
In a recent projection shared by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, they are currently part of the field as one of the last four teams in, which puts them in the First Four play-in round.
They are matched up with the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the South Region. The winner of that game would travel to Providence, Rhode Island to face off against the No. 5 seed Michigan State Spartans.
The second to last team in the field, Miller wrote that they, “Must capitalize on 'easy' first four games in SEC play.”
Emphasis on the quotations there as nothing will come easy in this conference.
Entering this stretch of the calendar, all 16 teams have already won double-digit games this year.
Their first four games are on the road against the LSU Tigers, at home against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, on the road against the Missouri Tigers and hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Considering the gauntlet of ranked teams they have to face consecutively after that, those first four games are “easy.”
10 out of their 11 games following that opening quartet are against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
Ample opportunities to stack Quad 1 wins will be presented over the coming weeks.
To this point, the Commodores have handled business, beating all of the teams they were supposed to beat.
If they can play near .500 in the SEC, an at-large bid would be within reach given how many quality wins they would be racking up.
