13. Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)
Last year Byington was leading James Madison to a prolific season that involved 32 wins, including an upset over Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt had another lousy season, failing to hit double-digit wins for the second time in Jerry Stackhouse’s tenure. The Commodores made the coaching change, hoping Byington’s recent success with the Dukes was a harbinger of things to come in Nashville and the early returns have been ideal.
The Commodores lost to a feisty Drake team in Charleston, but a team mostly built in the offseason won every other nonconference game and have looked like a contender in the tough SEC. This team upset Tennessee last weekend and have shown that they’re a lot better than the 16th place expectation from the preseason polls. Vanderbilt isn’t perfect and have struggled in a few games since league play began, but this is far from a last place team.
Stackhouse never lead Vanderbilt to the Big Dance and this program hasn’t been in the Tournament field since 2017. It’s far too early to make proclamations, but the Commodores are playing like a team that can end that streak. Byington has been an inspiration and breathed new life into this program but it’s all about how conference play continues in the weeks ahead. He’s been awesome, but can his team stick the landing in his first year in town?