Vanderbilt Basketball’s SEC Tournament Seeding Confirmed – Sports Illustrated

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At first, the thought of Vanderbilt being the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament seemed like a pipe dream. Vanderbilt was limping into the final weekend of the SEC slate, losing three of its last five. The Commodores had to go into Tennessee and win if they wanted to guarantee to avoid playing on the first day of the SEC Tournament.
But there was one path for Vanderbilt to get to a top four spot in the conference and earn a double-bye. Vanderbilt had to win, Missouri had to lose to Arkansas and Florida had to go on the road and beat Kentucky.
At first, Vanderbilt’s hopes were nearly dashed before it even tipped off as Arkansas played a nail-biter of a game against Missouri. But it was the Razorbacks who made a little run in overtime and took down the Tigers.
Next, Vanderbilt got the revenge it was looking for as the Commodores went into Knoxville and took down its rival in Tennessee 86-82 off a performance that consisted of a great start defensively and clutch baskets made from guys like Chandler Bing down the stretch.
Then, in Lexington, Florida came through for Vanderbilt. The Gators jumped out to a 17-point lead over the Wildcats before holding on in the final minute.
Everything that Vanderbilt needed to happen today happened. Vanderbilt could have gone to bed tonight playing on the first day of next week’s SEC Tournament. Instead, Vanderbilt does not have to play until Friday and will be the No. 4 in the conference tournament.
What seemed once impossible is now reality. While the final SEC Tournament bracket is not quite finalized at this moment due to not every SEC game tipping off and finishing yet, Vanderbilt knows its seed.
So when will Vanderbilt play and who?
The Commodores will be matched up against one of three teams: No 5 seed Tennessee or whoever the No. 12 or No. 13 seeds are. The game will be played at 2:30 p.m. CT, or 25 minutes of the conclusion of the first game of the day. If Vanderbilt won Friday, it would play the winner of No. 1 seed Florida or the No. 8 or No. 9 seeds in the first semifinal of the tournament Saturday 12 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt’s win over Tennessee gave the Commodores a feeling of turning a corner after struggling down the final stretch of the regular season. The win now adds to Vanderbilt’s resume for the NCAA Tournament as Selection Sunday is now eight days away.
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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