Mar 21, 2025; Cleveland, OH, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Mark Byington reacts in the first half against the St. Mary's Gaels at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Predicted to Finish Middle of the Pack

Originally posted on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI
By Graham Baakko | Last updated Sep 11, 2025 1:00 PM ET

One outlet has released its prediction for how the conference will shake out this college basketball season.

The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook released its prediction for the SEC standings in a twitter post Monday. In the prediction, the publication believes that Vanderbilt will finish in ninth in the SEC this winter.

Last season, the Commodores finished in the four-way tie for ninth place with Mississippi State, Arkansas and Georgia, in which Vanderbilt got the short-end of the stick in the tiebreaker and was the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament.

Vanderbilt finished the season with a 20-13 record and a 8-10 conference record. Despite losing to Texas in the SEC Tournament, the Commodores still found its way into the NCAA Tournament as a 10-seed. It was the first time since the 2016-2017 season that they made the tournament.

Vanderbilt is bringing in eight players from the transfer portal, including former Cornell power forward AK Okereke, Oklahoma guard Duke Miles and Jacksonville State center Mason Nicholson. Miles averaged 9.4 points per game as a Sooner last season. Okereke was an IVY League standout, averaging 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists while also averaging a little over a block and a steal each game.

Byington is entering his second season in Nashville and is looking to take Vanderbilt to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.

In 2024-2025, the SEC was loaded as the conference broke a record for the most teams in a conference to make the NCAA Tournament, with 14 of the 16 teams making the big dance last season. This season should not be much different. With a deep conference, if the Commodores were to match the publication’s prediction, they would more than likely be well on their way to getting back to the postseason.

In the book’s preseason Top 25, it has seven SEC teams. If Vanderbilt were to finish in the middle of the pack, it would not only mean a good probability of making the NCAA Tournament, but the Commodores have potential to be ranked at some point if it were to get some ranked wins.

The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is a yearly publication that writes previews for all Division I college basketball teams and is referred to as the “Bible” of college basketball.

Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball season begins Nov. 3 as it faces off against Lipscomb.