Preview: No. 4 Nebraska Basketball vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt in NCAA Tournament with Breakdown

Vanderbilt Scout

Head Coach

• Head Coach: Mark Byington
• Year at School: 2nd
• Vanderbilt Record: 47-21 (.691)
• Career Record: 267-159 (.627), 14 seasons
• NCAA Tournament Apps: 3x (2026, 2025, 2024)
• Championships: 1x Sun Belt Tournament, 1x CAA regular season
• Awards: 1x Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (2205), 1x CAA Coach OTY (2021)
• Previous head coach stops: James Madison, Georgia Southern and Charleston (Interim)
• Previous assistant stops: Virginia Tech, Charleston and Virginia

2025-2026 Record & Awards

• Record: 27-8 (11-7 SEC, T-4th)
• All-SEC: 1x First Team, 1x All-Defensive Team
• NCAA Tournament Team Wins: UCF, VCU, Saint Mary's, SMU, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee (2x), Florida
• NCAA Round of 64: W, 78-68 vs. No. 12 McNeese State

NCAA Tournament History

• Appearances: 17th
• Record: 11-17 (.393)
• Best Finish: Elite Eight (1965)
• Final Fours: None
• Elite Eights: 1x (1965)
• Sweet 16s: 6x (2007, 2004, 1993, 1988, 1974, 1965)

All-Time Series

• Vanderbilt leads 5-2
• Nov. 21, 2024, at Charleston Classic last matchup, 73-71 Vanderbilt
• First postseason matchup
• Will mark the only matchup to take place outside of November or December

Key Returners

• Tyler Tanner | G | Soph. | After averaging 5.7 points per game last year as a true freshman, the Tennessee grew to become an AP All-America Honorable Mention and All-SEC first team pick in 2025-2026; averages a team-high 19.1 points and 5.1 assists per game while being tied for seventh in the country among all players with 81 steals.
• Tyler Nickel | F | Sr. | A four-year senior that had brief stops at North Carolina and Virginia Tech, Nickel round out the trio of double-digit scorers for Vanderbilt with 13.5 points per game while leading the Commodores with 102 made three-pointers.
• Devin McGlockton | F | Sr. | Another veteran forward that spent his first two seasons at Boston College, the 6-foot-8 senior averages 9.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a full-time starter

Impact Transfers/Newcomers

• Duke Miles | G | Gr. | A college journey man that spent three years at Troy, one at High Point and one at Oklahoma, the Alabama native ranks second on the team in scoring (16.5), assists (117) and steals (70) for his final season in college basketball.
• AK Okereke | F | Gr. | A highly efficient shooter that led the Ivy League in field goal percentage last season, the Cornell transfer scores 9.7 points per game on 48.4% shooting from the field.
• Jalen Washington | C | Sr. | A transfer from North Carolina that was name the Tar Heels' Defensive Player of the Year, Washington puts up similar numbers to McGlockton with 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest while leading the team with 45 blocks.
• Tyler Harris | F | Jr. | A two-time transfer from Washington and Portland, Harris has come off the bench in 28 of his 30 appearances this season while averaging over five points per game and giving Vanderbilt extra defensive help.
• Chandler Bing | G | Fr. | The first-year guard has appeared in every game this season for the Commodores with 3.6 points per game as a key reserve.
• Mike James | G | Jr. | A double-figure scorer at Louisville for his first two college seasons, James suffered a season-ending knee injury last year at NC State before transferring to Vanderbilt where he's chipped in nearly two points and rebounds across 22 games.
• Jayden Leverett | C | Fr. | A 6-foo-11 first-year center from Texas, Leverett is a depth piece that sees, on average, four minutes of action per game.

Outlook

In doing this best Curt Cignetti impersonation, former James Madison head coach Mark Byington has quickly made his mark with the Vanderbilt men's basketball program. While not starved for success like the Indiana football program was, the Commodores have never made the Final Four and appeared in just one Elite Eight, which came in 1965. Byington, who also had a previous stop at Georgia Southern, had led Vanderbilt to the back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, but has already improved in 2025-2026 by getting the Commodores to the Round of 32 after bowing out in the first round last season.

AP All-America honorable mention guard Tyler Tanner leads a group that was mostly constructed from the transfer portal. An in-state native that attended the prestigious Brentwood Academy, Tanner jumped from 5.7 to 19.1 points per game while dishing out over five assists. His perimeter defense is another defining trait as he ranks seventh in the country with 81 steals on the season. His skills were all on display in Vanderbilt's opening round win over No. 12 seed McNeese State with a game-high 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Helping Tanner out is fellow returners Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton. A transfer that spent time at both Virginia Tech and North Carolina, Nickel is the Pryce Sandfort equivalent for Vanderbilt. After leading the SEC in three-point shooting last season, he's followed up by hitting over 100 three-pointers, including three of the team's nine against McNeese. Another import from the ACC (Boston College), McGlockton is the team's leading rebounder with 6.7 per game while adding over nine points.

Seven newcomers from either the portal or recruiting populate the majority of the Commodores' rotation. Playing in his sixth season of college basketball, Duke Miles spent three seasons at Troy, one at High Point and one at Oklahoma before landing in Nashville. He's thrived as the second leading scorer with 16.5 points per game while also ranking second in assists (117) and steals (70). After leading the Ivy League in field goal shooting at Cornell last season, forward AK Okereke adds 9.7 points per game. Plus, North Carolina transfer Jalen Washington provides over nine points and nearly six rebounds per contest off the bench as a 6-foot-11 center. The remaining contributors mostly fill out depth, but Washington transfer Tyler Harris makes a positive impact defensively and posts over five points per game.

Make no mistake — this is good Vanderbilt team. Similar to the Big Ten, the Commodores put together 27 wins with a schedule that was ranked No. 15 overall in the strength of schedule metric. With 10 wins over NCAA Tournament teams, including South Region No. 1 seed Florida, Vanderbilt will give Nebraska all it can handle.

A good defensive team that ranked in the top four of the SEC in most categories, the Commodores also don't turn the ball over with the No. 1 overall Turnover Margin in the SEC. However, they really struggle in rebounding, an area that the Huskers won't be unmatched against and could actually exploit.

Like most games this season, if Nebraska can hit its threes like Thursday and hold its own in rebounding, they will be fine against the Commodoes and give themselves a chance to win. While my bracket is already busted, that isn't the case for my Husker prediction. Give me Nebraska to sneak past Vanderbilt and punch its ticket to the Sweet 16.