In this story:
Various college basketball media members got together Thursday for a day-long event of creating a mock NCAA Tournament bracket. After long deliberation, the media members put out what they felt the 68-team bracket should look like if the season ended today.
In the bracket, Vanderbilt was ranked as a No. 5 seed taking on No. 12 seed Liberty in the first round. The mock bracket also has Vandebilt going to Greenville, South Carolina. If Vanderbilt were to win its first game in the mock bracket, it would face No. 4 seed Michigan State or No. 13 seed UNC Wilmington.
It is important to note that this bracket was made after Vanderbilt lost to Missouri on the road Wednesday night. A No. 5 seed for Vanderbilt is not a stunning result to see the Commodores being perceived as, especially coming off a loss. The Commodores certainly have the capabilities of playing like a team that is better than a team on that line. However, it is understandable that Vanderbilt was bumped from the 4-seed line to the 5-seed line following its fifth conference loss.
But the perception of Vanderbilt is also intriguing to see. If the actual selection committee perceives Vanderbilt in a similar light that the media did, then it shows Vanderbilt needs to put another strong win or two on its resume to jump to the 4-seed line.
Vanderbilt will have plenty of chances to do that, too. The Commodores finish the season with two matchups against Tennessee, with the first one being today at 1 p.m. CT. Vanderbilt also finishes the regular season with Georgia at home on Feb. 25 and Kentucky and Ole Miss on the road Feb. 28 and March 3.
196 days
Vanderbilt women’s tennis beat Xavier 6-1.
Vanderbilt baseball beat Marist 16-5.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis beat Lipscomb 7-0.
No. 19 Vanderbilt men’s basketball vs. Tennessee, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Vanderbilt men’s tennis at Mississippi State, 1 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt baseball vs. Marist (Game 2), 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
Vanderbilt swimming at the SEC Championships, Day 4.
Vanderbilt bowling at the Big Red Invitational, Day 2.
There is no one like no. 1 🤷♀️@mikaylablakes pic.twitter.com/S33Gt2FXXy
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.
© 2026 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
