Vanderbilt Star Forward Reveals Funny Way He Found Out About Tennessee Rivalry

Vanderbilt just pulled off an upset over the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, marking their first statement win of the season that boosts their resume when it comes to their NCAA Tournament chances.

Coming into this stretch of games where they are going to face some of the premier teams in the conference, the Commodores were firmly on the bubble.

This win was an expensive one for the athletic department since they were fined for the court storming that took place by the fans, but they are likely more than happy to pay it considering what this could do for their postseason chances.

A key contributor in Vanderbilt pulling off this surprising win was sophomore forward Jaylen Carey.

He grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his 14 points to secure a double-double off the bench, putting his stamp on things throughout the contest.

Carey is new to Vanderbilt, having followed his coach Mark Byington from James Madison when he was hired to lead the Commodores program.

Because of that, he shared a funny revelation about how he found out about the seriousness of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee rivalry.

"One of the days I went to class and someone had said, we don't wear orange here," Carey said per Aria Gerson of The Tennessean when stating he wore his dad's orange Miami football jersey. "OK, y'all that serious? So ever since then, I always took it as pride. We don't like orange."

It was a great performance in his first rivalry game of this series.

Vanderbilt has long been the little brother when it comes to the hardcourt, but with Byington leading the way, there is hope that can change.

The Commodores have to get back to work after this celebration, though.

While they are certain to be viewed much more favorably by voters and the NCAA Tournament committee right now after pulling off this upset, they still are set to face fourth-ranked Alabama, ninth-ranked Kentucky and Oklahoma on the road before facing the fifth-ranked Florida Gators.

It's a daunting stretch.

But if Vanderbilt is able to win just one of those ranked matchups, they'll put themselves in a great to make the March Madness field.