No. 13 Vanderbilt stays unbeaten, keeps rolling as SEC play looms

The Vanderbilt Commodores have emerged as one of the best teams in men's college basketball, and they've done so in dominant fashion. 

The No. 13 Commodores are 12-0 following their 98-67 beatdown of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday, and assuming they take care of business against New Haven on Dec. 29, Vanderbilt will enter Southeastern Conference play with a 13-0 record. 

The Commodores have spent non-conference play racking up marquee wins against the likes of UCF, VCU, Saint Mary's, SMU, Memphis and the Demon Deacons. 

With SEC on the horizon in January, the Commodores are the only unbeaten team remaining in the conference and looked poised to not only return to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, but potentially make a deep run as well. 

Vanderbilt not slowing down anytime soon

It's not just that Vanderbilt is winning big games. The Commodores have won four of the five aforementioned "big games" by an average of 20.4 points. 

Vandy will open SEC play against South Carolina (7-4) before taking part in its first big test against No. 16 Alabama. 

Even if the Commodores can't maintain their current pace, they have at least padded their NCAA Tournament resume with their aforementioned non-conference victories. At this point, a .500 record in SEC play could be all the Commodores need to get back to the Big Dance — but it wouldn't be surprising if Vandy ends up becoming an SEC juggernaut this season.