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By Cory Nightingale
Published:
Vanderbilt earned a very important victory Saturday afternoon over its most bitter rival, and now the 24th-ranked Commodores will be scoreboard watching to see if they can nail down a double bye in next week’s SEC Tournament.
In order for that to even be possible though, Vanderbilt had to survive a furious Tennessee rally in hostile territory, as the 23rd-ranked Volunteers made the Commodores sweat out a satisfying 86-82 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams. With the SEC Tournament on deck next week, every team is jockeying for position in the seedings, and Vandy is at the top of that list, trying to get that crucial double bye.
Earlier on Saturday, Arkansas outlasted Mizzou in overtime to set the wheels in motion for the Commodores, who took another step by taking down Tennessee in Knoxville. With Mizzou’s home loss and Vanderbilt’s road victory secured, the Commodores turned their attention to Lexington later Saturday afternoon, with Kentucky facing 5th-ranked Florida.
Vanderbilt’s rooting interest was squarely with the regular-season SEC champion Gators, with a Kentucky loss at Rupp Arena being the final step for the Commodores to secure that coveted double bye. Vandy and Tennessee both sat at 11-7 in the SEC after Saturday’s thriller, with Mizzou falling to 10-8 in the league with its agonizing loss earlier in the day.
If Florida could just beat Kentucky later Saturday, the Wildcats would also fall to 10-8 in the SEC, clearing the way for the Commodores to finish 4th in the league. The top 4 teams in the standings will earn the double bye and the path of least resistance as they chase an SEC Tournament title next week.
BREAKING: Arkansas takes down Missouri 88-84 in overtime. Step 1 for Vanderbilt is done. A Vanderbilt win and a Kentucky loss later today gives the Commodores a double-bye.
While the double bye pursuit was at the top of the list of accomplishments for Vanderbilt on Saturday, just winning at Tennessee and finishing 24-7 overall also brought some program history. Number one, it earned the Commodores some payback for the Volunteers’ victory in Nashville a few short weeks ago on Feb. 21. Exactly 2 weeks later, the road team in this rivalry was celebrating again, and this time it was Vandy, which got a game-high 25 points from Tyler Tanner in the victory.
Tanner, who shot 7 of 9 from the field and made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, helped push Vanderbilt to its first victory in Knoxville since 2017. To take it a step further, it was Vandy’s first win over a ranked Tennessee team in Knoxville since 2010.
That 24th overall victory for the Commodores made history, too, as it gave the program its most regular-season wins since the 2007-08 season. Vandy shot 53% from the field on Saturday and prevailed despite being outrebounded by the Vols, 40-31.
Meanwhile, the loss dropped Tennessee to 21-10 overall to end its regular season. Amari Evans led the Vols with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, while JP Estrella added 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
With Vanderbilt and Tennessee completing their regular seasons, their focus now shifts to next week’s SEC Tournament, and here is how Kalshi sees the contenders for the 2026 SEC Tournament title:
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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