14. Vanderbilt (16-2)
When the dust settles on this season in a few months we’ll be able to go back and look at how impressive Vanderbilt was in the early going. The trucked Saint Mary’s, SMU, and Wake Forest and then made a strong opening statement in the SEC during their unbeaten start to the season. However, this was never going to be a perfect season in Nashville and this week exposed some of those shortcomings.
That dream officially ended on Wednesday night with an 80-64 road loss against Texas. The Commodores got 21 points from Duke Miles and 17 points out of Tyler Tanner but largely struggled scoring the ball. A fierce battle came over the weekend, but Vanderbilt ended on the wrong side, losing 98-94 to Florida. Tyler Tanner led that charge with 20 points while Miles and AK Okerere had 15 points apiece, but the Gators just made a couple more plays late.
That brilliant start isn’t gone and Vanderbilt is still certainly a formidable team in the SEC but let’s look at the bigger picture. Their defense wasn’t very good this week and has honestly struggling slowing down SEC frontcourts during this 3-2 start to league play. The Commodores have work ahead of them on both ends of the basketball even after impressive shooting in that that loss to the Gators. They’ll hit the road next week, looking for statement wins at Arkansas and Mississippi State.