Vanderbilt Commodores Turning Memorial Gymnasium Into House of Horrors

The Vanderbilt Commodores have gotten off to an incredible start in the first season under new head coach Mark Byington.

Hired away from the James Madison Dukes after a record-setting 2023-24 campaign, he has carried that success over to Nashville. They are off to one of the best starts in recent program history and people can no longer say it is because of a soft schedule.

Vanderbilt went through their non-conference schedule like a hot knife through butter, going 12-1 but facing far from a murderer’s row of opponents. The average NET Ranking of their opponents was in the bottom 50 of the country.

That number has improved a ton during SEC play, as the average is down to 98 as the Commodores are playing highly-touted opponents virtually every time they take the court. The lowest-ranked team in the conference currently is the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are No. 98 in the NET.

To this point, Vanderbilt is 4-3 in conference and continuing to improve their resume to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

A major reason that they are in the mix at all is because of the success they have had at home.

Memorial Gymnasium has been turned into a house of horrors for visitors as the Commodores have an incredible homecourt advantage with the unique layout of the court and a raucous crowd that gets behind their team.

Thus far this season, Vanderbilt has been dominant at home, going 12-1 with multiple marquee victories to bolster their resume.

On Jan. 18, they welcomed their in-state rivals, the Tennessee Volunteers, to Memorial Gymnasium and picked up an incredible 76-75 win. 

The fans stormed the court, which cost the school $250,000 as a second-time offender; the first offense was during the college football season when the Commodores defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide for the first time in 40 years.

This past weekend, they welcomed another top-10 team into Nashville; the Kentucky Wildcats. For the second time in as many tries, they picked up another massive victory, defeating them 74-69 to improve their record to 16-4 overall.

It was the first time in 55 years that Vanderbilt defeated Alabama on the gridiron and Kentucky on the hardwood during the same collegiate year, as things are turning around for both programs.

The fans stormed the court again, this time costing the school $500,000.

Fans are showing up and supporting the men’s basketball team, as they have sold out Memorial Gymnasium for two straight games, the first time that has happened since 2011. Will they make it this time in a row when the team returns home on Feb. 8 against the Texas Longhorns?

You can be sure another massive crowd will be present on Feb. 11 when they host the Auburn Tigers, who are the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

A road trip that many teams used to view as a chance to take a breath during conference play has turned into a brutal arena in which to play. Vanderbilt’s strong start is not a fluke as it have turned its homecourt into a major advantage.