What to know about Vanderbilt basketball in SEC tournament – The Tennessean

Vanderbilt basketball doesn’t need the SEC tournament to make the NCAA tournament or achieve a high seed. But the Commodores have still made their intentions clear: they want to win the tournament.
“Our goal is to win the SEC tournament,” coach Mark Byington said.
Vanderbilt, the No. 4 seed, will begin play at Bridgestone Arena on March 13 (approximately 2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) in the quarterfinals. The Commodores (24-7) earned the double bye by defeating Tennessee on the last day of the regular season. Vanderbilt’s opponent in its first game will be one of the Vols (21-10), Mississippi State (13-18) or Auburn (16-15).
The Commodores are safely in the NCAA tournament field, likely as a No. 4 or 5 seed.
“You want to be playing your best this time of year,” Byington said. ” … We want to go hard, stay healthy, but you do not want to go in playing any of these opponents right now and not be at your best.”
Here’s what to know about Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament:
Though Vanderbilt is playing in Nashville, Byington knows that this isn’t necessarily a home-field advantage for the Commodores. Plenty of fanbases, including Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, typically have large contingents in Bridgestone Arena.
“One thing I learned last year, the SEC tournament is not a home-court advantage,” Byington said. “We were probably outnumbered last year, and so we’ve got a home city advantage, where we know the surroundings and we know all that, but the SEC tournament, teams come from everybody.”
But this Vanderbilt team is the best one since Kevin Stallings was the coach. For the Commodores, the hope is that a better team will result in a larger fan showing.
“I feel like no one really cared about it being a home thing for Vanderbilt for a long time, because no one thought that we could actually win (the SEC tournament),” Tyler Nickel said. “And now that’s not just possible, it’s our expectation.”
Tennessee, the No. 5 seed, is favored to win its opening game against Auburn or Mississippi State, which would result in a rematch between the Vols and Commodores. It would be the third time playing each other within the span of three weeks.
“We’re looking at three opponents,” Byington said. ” … The good thing is, one of them we’ve played twice in two weeks, so that’s not excruciating prep, to get ready for Tennessee.”
The two teams split the home-and-home, but the Vols won at Memorial Gymnasium while Vanderbilt won in Knoxville.
The first game was played with Tennessee without JP Estrella and Vanderbilt on its first game back with Duke Miles after his knee surgery. In the second game, the Vols were without Nate Ament. If Ament is able to return for the SEC tournament, it could provide yet another slightly different matchup.
Just before Byington spoke to the media, Tennessee’s team bus pulled up at Memorial Gymnasium, where the Vols were holding their practice.
Byington said that all SEC teams, including Tennessee, were given the option to practice at Vanderbilt’s facilities, but some teams chose other locations.
“Memorial is open to everybody in the SEC tournament,” Byington said. “So (Tennessee) scheduled in there, and I think some choose to use different places around town.”
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.

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