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Vanderbilt men’s basketball will continue to rest as it awaits its opponent in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Basketball Tournament.
The Commodores will take on the winner of No. 12 seed Auburn and No. 5 seed Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. CT Friday. Vanderbilt is coming to Bridgestone Arena with the goal of returning to its nearby campus with a conference title trophy.
But it will not be an easy road having to play three games in three days against teams that will more than likely be in the NCAA Tournament and potentially still be alive come the second weekend of the tournament. So, what would Vanderbilt’s most likely path to a tournament title run be?
If percentages of and odds play out like chalk, Vanderbilt would play its in-state rival for the third time this season to tip off its tournament run. What will be different in a hypothetical third matchup is that Tennessee will have both Nate Ament and JP Estrella available. Vanderbilt played the Volunteers without Estrella in the meeting in Nashville before playing them without Ament in the meeting in Knoxville.
If Vanderbilt moved to the semifinal, it would more than likely face off against top-seeded Florida Saturday afternoon. Vanderbilt fell to the Gators 98-94 in the lone matchup early in the conference play. Florida has been red hot since conference play began as it is starting to play up to its championship standards.
If Vanderbilt pulled off an upset against Florida, it would most likely play either No. 2 seed Alabama or No. 3 seed Arkansas. Vanderbilt beat Alabama at home, but lost to Arkansas earlier this season.
Of course, this path is not the most ideal path to a tournament title. The Commodores would probably rather take on Auburn Friday and hope that a team like Florida gets upset in the quarterfinals. Regardless, Vanderbilt has an opportunity this week to bolster its resume and jump into the protected seed conversation.
177 days
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Vanderbilt swimming at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, Day 1.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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