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By Cory Nightingale
Published:
ESPN Analytics shared what it believes could happen in Act 2 of the rivalry between Vanderbilt and Tennessee on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
As far as Act 1 was concerned, the Commodores probably want to forget the celebrating Volunteers who pranced around on the Memorial Gym court 2 weeks ago after Tennessee rallied for a 69-65 victory over Vanderbilt. That was on Feb. 21, so the sting of that loss likely burns in the Vandy players as they prepare to head to Knoxville for the rematch.
That rematch between SEC bitter rivals will tip off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN, with the 24th-ranked Commodores and 23rd-ranked Vols trying to get a leg up on one another going into next week’s SEC Tournament. As close together as the schools are in proximity, the teams are that close to each other in the SEC standings, too, heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Tennessee sits in 4th place in the league at 11-6, with its in-state rival sitting right behind in a 5th-place logjam at 10-7. Vandy would love to try to play its way out of that 4-team scrum at 10-7, and it’ll get that chance on Saturday as well as having a shot to celebrate at Thompson-Boling Arena the same way the hated Volunteers did at Memorial Gym a few weeks ago.
But ESPN’s BPI doesn’t necessarily see Vanderbilt being the team celebrating at the end of Saturday’s showdown. The BPI is giving host Tennessee a 68.3% chance to take down Vandy for the 2nd time this season and the 2nd time in just a few short weeks.
Both teams will have another shot to prove their worth next week at the SEC Tournament, and both teams will no doubt be heading to the NCAA Tournament later this month. But 23-7 Vanderbilt and 21-9 Tennessee might not get another chance to knock each other off after Saturday, and for the Commodores it’s that shot at payback that will surely drive them on the final Saturday of the regular season.
Here is how Kalshi breaks down the upcoming SEC Tournament, with the final weekend of the regular season approaching:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
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