Tennessee opens as an underdog at Vanderbilt – Rocky Top Talk

A big one in Nashville.
Nashville will serve as the backdrop on Saturday afternoon for a big one in the SEC — Tennessee will travel to Vanderbilt in a game that will have both national and conference tournament seeding implications.
The Volunteers have suddenly won seven of their last eight, clawing back into a second-place tie in the SEC regular season standings. Vanderbilt has come back to earth a big after a big start to the season, going 5-5 in their last ten conference games to fall to 8-5.
A couple of key injuries to Duke Miles and Frankie Collins haven’t helped the Commodores. Tennessee is now dealing with an issue of their own with J.P. Estrella’s foot injury flaring up again. Estrella didn’t play against Oklahoma on Wednesday.
Vanderbilt, coming off of a dramatic loss on the road to Missouri, has opened as a 3.5 point favorite over Tennessee. The ‘Dores are 5-2 at Memorial Gym in conference play, capitalizing on one of the better home court advantages in the country.
Tennessee has dropped two of their last three in Memorial. For contrast, Vanderbilt hasn’t beaten Tennessee in Knoxville since 2017.
Mark Byington’s group is led by sophomore guard Tyler Tanner, who is averaging over 18 points per game. Senior forward Tyler Nickel is shooting over 43 percent from three-point range, scoring over 14 points per game. According to KenPom’s metric, Vanderbilt ranks as the 12th best team in the nation — perhaps a bit inflated without Miles being on the floor. Tennessee has climbed back up to 16th.
Tennessee’s late-season charge has been fueled by freshman wing Nate Ament, who has really come on strong in recent weeks. Taking a much more aggressive approach, Ament has taken control of the Tennessee offense in a variety of different ways. Ament has scored over 22 points in six of his last eight outings, shooting a much improved 41 percent (15/36) from long range during that span. He continues to force his way to the free throw line too, which has been a major catalyst for the Vols.
Tip-off from Nashville is set for 2 p.m. ET. ESPN will have the call.
This is the title for the native ad
The Volunteers shouldn’t have much trouble here.
Tennessee’s physical brand comes to Starkville.
This is the title for the native ad
© 2026 Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537). Hope is here. GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). Call 877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 21+ (18+ D.C.) and present in select states (for KS, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino). Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT) or visit FanDuel.com/RG.

source