Vanderbilt (17-7) (NET: 42)
2-6 (Q1), 4-1 (Q2), 3-0 (Q3), 8-0 (Q4)
Vanderbilt was another of those SEC teams that got the season off to a hot start, sitting at 13-1 in early January after they won their conference opener. Obviously they’ve taken a step back in this insanely strong conference, but the Commodores aren’t dropping out of the picture like in recent seasons.
New head coach Mark Byington has delivered a pair of impressive home wins with these Commodores, getting Quad 1 victories over Tennessee and Kentucky back in the second half of January. Vanderbilt played well against Texas recently and also got nonconference Quad 2 wins against Nevada and TCU.
Strangely enough, the only Quad 2 loss on their current resume was against a very strong Drake squad in the Charleston Classic and doesn’t ruin this resume. Their other defeats have come in SEC play, though each of those losses was by at least nine points or more.
Wins against Kentucky and Tennessee loom large, though return trips to those two schools beckon in the coming week. Vanderbilt still plays six Quad 1 games and needs to add to their total if they want a shot at the Big Dance. They don’t need to win all or most of these games, but their resume can’t be built on those two January wins.
VCU (20-5) (NET: 36)
1-1 (Q1), 5-3 (Q2), 2-0 (Q3), 11-1 (Q4)
We’re beyond the years where the A-10 is yearly a multi-bid league, though VCU is trying to change that perception this season. They had some uneven play early in the season, but are standing out in this conference and might have the metrics to forge their way into the field.
A recent road win at Dayton unfortunately became their first and only Quad 1 win. They’ve picked up a number of Quad 2 wins on the road in league play, including against Saint Joseph’s and Loyola Chicago, while also getting a nice win over Colorado State back in December.
On the opposite end, their effort at the Charleston Classic is killing this resume, as the Rams lost a Quad 4 game to Seton Hall in that tournament. Quad 2 road losses at St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis aren’t the end of the world comparatively, but VCU isn’t dancing without a consistent push to end their season.
They’re not quite in win-out mode, though VCU certainly needs great efforts in remaining Quad 2 efforts against George Mason and Dayton. There aren’t any other Quad 1 opportunities on this resume and Ryan Odom’s team needs to avoid any other pitfalls if they’re dancing without an A-10 Tourney title.