When
Tuesday January 21
6:00pm CST
Where
Coleman Coliseum
The House of “This Saban football $ has to go somewhere”
TV/Streaming
SECN/ESPN App
Radio
106.3 FM Locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Rankings
Alabama enters the game ranked 4th in the AP Poll
Kenpom has Vanderbilt at 48 while the Tide is 8th.
The all-valuable NET rankings have Nate Oat’s squad 7th, while Byington’s comes in at 37.
Spread
PENDING
How We Got Here
The Tide enters this game after a huge 102-97 road win Saturday at Kentucky. This marked Alabama’s 15th regular season win, improving it to 4-1 in SEC play. Their losses this year have come at the hands of Purdue, Oregon, and Ole Miss (in a shocker last week at home where the Rebels pulled off the 74-64 upset). Alabama is a very similar team to what we have watched over Nate Oat’s tenure so far, a very fast paced team that is NOT afraid to pull up from 3 at any time.
The Mark Byington era is officially underway in Nashville after the first-year coach pulled off his biggest win by far to date, upsetting instate rival T*nn*ss** Saturday 76-75 in nerve-wracking fashion. This moves Byington to 1-0 all-time against Rick Barnes’ and the v*L* and #1 in Vanderbilt fans hearts. Saturday’s victory (the first game of the toughest stretch of the season so far) moved Vandy to 15-3 on the season, and 3-2 in SEC play.
What to Expect
Alabama is, once again this season, in the elite’ among the of college basketball elite, with a roster as deep as you will find in the country. They rank 2nd in scoring offense, 4th in 2-pt%, and are averaging 10 3’s per game. The Tide are lead in scoring by guard Mark Sears, but have 5 players averaging double figure scoring, and 8 players averaging 7+ points a game. Alabama’s key to this game will be continuing to get out in transition, and forcing Vanderbilt into 1 possession attempts, not giving up second chance points. This Tide team also excels at offensive rebounding (4th) in the country. Expect a barrage of shot attempts from this team as they are not afraid to put the ball in the air.
At Vandy, we did it! We finally came out scoring early in the game finally!! Saturday was the perfect use of the Byington system, being able to score at will against a stout opposing defense. The part of the game I didn’t expect, and if it continues will change my expectations a little for the year, is the physicality Vanderbilt shown the last two games. Jaylen Carey has been amazing the last couple of games, playing truly ‘angry’ which is what this team desperately needs. The keys for Vandy this week are going to be continuing to hit shots, especially early. If we fall behind early, this game could get ugly quickly so the Dores have to build a lead early and try to hold it for the rest of the game. For Vanderbilt to win, they must create lots of turnovers on long outlet passes during transition and hit their shots on the other side of the floor.
Chef Miller's Prediction
82-71 Tide
Choosing Bama to win does not reflect on where I think Vandy is as a program right now, this team is just good.
