Vanderbilt was picked 11th in the official SEC preseason poll, right behind Ole Miss, Texas and Mississippi State. At the time, it made sense, I guess. Nobody expected the Commodores to be what they are.
But here’s what they are.
“They’re the best team in the league right now,” said Alabama coach Nate Oats after his team fell to Vandy in Nashville late Wednesday. “League championship’s got to come through here.”
Final score: Vanderbilt 96, Alabama 90.
So, the Commodores are now 15-0 overall, 2-0 in the SEC. And it’s totally reasonable to say, despite where they were picked in the preseason, that, yes, Vanderbilt is the best team in the SEC right now in Year 2 under Mark Byington.
“He’s done a really good job,” Oats said. “I mean, he’s won everywhere he’s been.”
And without exception this season.
The knock on Vandy all along has been that it had a zero in the loss column, sure, and strong computer numbers, undeniably, but who have the Commodores really beaten? Before Tuesday, they had zero victories over teams ranked in the Top 25 at KenPom.com. So all skeptics pointed to that.
But nobody can point to that anymore.
That’s because Vanderbilt just beat Alabama, which owns wins over Illinois, Clemson, St. John’s and Kentucky. Nobody questions Alabama as a true Final Four contender. So, at 15-0 and with a win over the Crimson Tide under its belt, nobody should continue to question Vanderbilt as a true Final Four contender — and once that becomes a reasonable goal, you might as well dream as big as you can dream.
Vanderbilt is up to No. 4 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the 30th consecutive day. The Commodores’ jump from No. 12 to No. 4 caused UConn, BYU, Purdue, Gonzaga, Duke, Nebraska, Michigan State and Houston to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own. Next up for Vandy is another home game — Saturday against LSU. The next time the Commodores will play another team currently ranked in the Top 25 And 1 will come Jan. 17 when they host Florida inside Memorial Gym.