Vanderbilt basketball has one last regular-season game to go as the Commodores are set to travel to Knoxville and take on Tennessee.
No. 22 Vanderbilt (23-7, 10-7 SEC) lost its first matchup with Tennessee, 69-65, at Memorial Gymnasium on Feb. 21. The Commodores could use a win to feel good after losses in three of their last five games. One of the wins, at Ole Miss on March 3, came in overtime against the 14th-place team in the SEC.
The rematch with the No. 25 Vols (23-7, 10-7 SEC) will take place on March 7 at Thompson-Bowling Arena (1 p.m. CT, ESPN).
But there’s more at stake as Vanderbilt jostles for seeding in the conference. Against a deep middle tier of the SEC where there is little separation and as many as six teams could finish tied in the standings, the Commodores need a differentiator. March Madness is approaching, and Vanderbilt is running out of chances to improve its seed from its current projected No. 5.
Here’s what’s at stake:
Vanderbilt could finish as high as the No. 4 seed and the double-bye with a win. The Commodores are not guaranteed a double-bye with a win and would need other results around the league to help them out.
However, the Commodores are not even guaranteed a single bye without a win. With eight SEC teams that could still finish either 10-8 or 11-7 in the league, the two possibilities for Vanderbilt’s record, the Commodores could drop as low as the No. 9 seed if it falls to the Vols. That would require them to play on the first day of the tournament on March 11.
Though SEC tournament results are not particularly important for Vanderbilt, which is safely in the NCAA tournament and would be unlikely to significantly improve its seeding, the Commodores’ lack of depth means that the fewer games played at Bridgestone Arena, likely the better.
After a long winning streak by Tennessee over Vanderbilt that was only snapped in 2023, this rivalry has been more even. The Commodores split their games in 2023 and 2025, winning at home but losing in Knoxville. However, Vanderbilt dropped the matchup this season at Memorial Gymnasium to a Vols team that wasn’t quite up to that program’s vintage. Winning in Knoxville − something Vanderbilt hasn’t done since 2017 − would restore some of the bragging rights.
Two of the biggest issues with Vanderbilt’s NCAA tournament resume are that the Commodores have played poorly on the road and that they have few truly marquee wins. The best team Vanderbilt has beaten, according to the NET, is Alabama at 17, followed by Saint Mary’s at 21. A win at NET No. 19 Tennessee would be the best road win the Commodores have and could potentially boost their NCAA tournament seeding.
Tennessee is a particularly tough matchup for Vanderbilt because the Vols excel in two areas the Commodores particularly struggle: offensive rebounding and getting to the free-throw line.
If Vanderbilt can figure out a way to win with these strengths, it will help in March as that’s a type of team the Commodores could find in their bracket. Vanderbilt also won’t be playing at Memorial Gymnasium in March, so they will need to find more ways to win away from home without getting behind early.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
