KenPom Preseason Projections High on Vanderbilt Basketball Ahead of 2025-26 Season

NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt is listed as the 19th best team in college basketball in KenPom’s preseason projections.

The Commodores are projected to be the nation’s No. 19 offensive team and No. 23 defensive team while having the nation’s 46th-fastest tempo. 

The analytics site is higher on the Commodores than most outlets that have released preseason rankings as a result of its affinity for efficiency. Mark Byington and his staff were intentional about adding efficient players throughout the offseason, particularly players that were efficient from 3-point range. 

KenPom is a “proprietary algorithm” that doesn’t release its exact formula for projecting teams. It’s frequently asked questions section states that “the weight of the preseason ratings decreases through the season, going to zero after a team's 27th D-I game. The proper weighting has been determined from historical testing - designed so that there's no bias in terms of the preseason rating holding a team back or propping it up during the season.”

Vanderbilt finished last season with its first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2016-17 season after a 20-win season, but it was never ranked within the AP Top 25–which releases Monday. 

As Vanderbilt looks to take a leap in 2025-26–Byington’s second year at the helm–it does so with a roster including just three returning scholarship players in Tyler Tanner, Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel. All three of which are expected to have significant roles on a team that possesses an eight-man transfer class headlined by TCU point guard Frankie Collins, North Carolina big man Jalen Washington, Washington wing Tyler Harris, Oklahoma guard Duke Miles and NC State guard Mike James–who hasn’t played since his days at Louisville.

Byington also added Jacksonville State transfer Mason Nicholson, Cornell transfer AK Okereke and Eastern Kentucky transfer George Kimble–who will miss the season due to injury.

“The priority this recruiting season was to gain some more length, size,” Vanderbilt assistant coach Xavier Joyner told Vandy on SI over the summer. “We knew going into last year we were maybe the smallest team in the SEC regarding length, size so we wanted to upgrade that, which we did.”

Now Vanderbilt’s ability will be tested early in the season as it eases into things with six buy games before the dawn of the new year. The Commodores didn’t lose a buy game in 2024-25, which helped it significantly in the computer metrics, and will likely have to do so again in 2025-26 if it wants to head back to the NCAA Tournament.