Exclusive: Mark Byington Evaluates State of Vanderbilt Basketball After Florida Win – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—The waves of attention and celebration had subsided and Mark Byington was alone in the corner of Vanderbilt’s coaches’ locker room in the basement of Bridgestone Arena watching Ole Miss and Arkansas go at it for an SEC Championship Game berth. Byington, though, had already clinched a tournament berth as he waited for Vanderbilt director of basketball operations Andy Farrell to come get him at the conclusion of Vanderbilt’s open locker room. 
In the hours prior, Byington’s Vanderbilt team had secured a 91-74 win over No. 4 Florida that has to qualify for the biggest win of his young tenure in Nashville. Byington’s year one wins over Kentucky and Tennessee were great. So were his team’s regular season wins over Alabama and Tennessee. This one, though, was the program’s best. 
Byington doesn’t think in those terms, though. Perhaps he will moving forward, but he’s thinking in the micro these days rather than the macro. 
“That's just not who I am, I don't reflect that way,” Byington told Vandy on SI in regard to the idea of comparing wins and performances. “It's such a moment thing. I mean, we were at a high level today. 
I mean, that's without a doubt. and we were at a high level, you know, majority of the game yesterday, too. So you know, I just think when you see our defense intensity like that and just our guys competing. The first half was phenomenal.” 
Byington may not want to compare, but this was the type of win that can’t help but inspire granular thinking externally. This wasn’t Vanderbilt just beating Florida. This was it proving that Todd Golden’s team–which had won 11 games in a row prior to Saturday’s game–isn’t invincible. This was Vanderbilt punking the No. 4 team in the country on a neutral floor. Vanderbilt was better than Florida in just about every way, and in most ways it wasn’t even close. 
The Vanderbilt coach doesn’t have his own ranking system, but he doesn’t often forget his best–and worst–results. He hopes that his players and Vanderbilt’s fanbase embrace this one for all that it was and all that it means, though. 
“This will be something that they cherish and remember,” Byington said from the coaches' room at Bridgestone Arena. “We're past the point in the program where we're going for moral victories or just to compete. We're trying to win, and now we're trying to win championships. So it's the next step up.”
Byington said in his postgame press conference that there wasn’t all that much celebrating in the locker room on Saturday as a result of what Vanderbilt has ahead in the SEC Championship on Sunday, but this group will remember Saturday fondly one day when this is all over. The Vanderbilt coach wants them to move forward in a way that will allow them to make more memories from here, though. 
If Saturday is any indication, they will. 
Byington indicated earlier in the week that he believed this Vanderbilt team was peaking at the right time after Vanderbilt’s win in Knoxville, and since then it’s picked up two ranked wins. Bigger than that, it’s found itself again–and it’s going to the SEC Title Game for the first time since 2012. 
Vanderbilt’s offense is flowing again. The biggest difference between Vanderbilt these days and the form it took on a few weeks ago is its defense. Vanderbilt turned Florida over 14 times on Saturday, held it to 45.6% shooting from the field and below 30% shooting from 3-point range.
Byington appears to believe that those things are indicative of the way this group has responded to a difficult February stretch. He also appears to believe it’s found its identity. 
“You're like, we got to finish on the road, and they go to the SEC tournament, you almost felt like we had to do this,” Byington said. “There was a couple games this year where something was not right about us. And that happens in different teams. 
But going on the road and kind of just being in that situation, I think it kind of helped toughen up a little bit. I think we understood that we’ve got to win with a certain style.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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