Vanderbilt has released its nonconference portion of the 2024-25 schedule.

The Commodores will open up by hosting Nashville's own, Lipscomb. This is the third year in a row that Shea Ralph will host the Bisons.

Ralph will also have her team compete in the ACC/SEC Challenge and in the Acrisure Classic, which takes place in Palm Springs, California.

Schedule breakdown

Home games

Regarding the home slate, Vanderbilt will not see much of a test at Memorial Gymnasium.

The Commodores open up with back-to-back ASUN opponents, which happen to be two of the better teams in their conference, both finishing in the top half of the league.

After hitting the road, Vanderbilt will stay home for three games, hosting Butler, Hampton and Samford. Butler, out of the Big East, is the most notable home contest for the Commodores.

Vanderbilt will play four mid-majors in December before starting conference play.

Away/neutral site games

The Commodores biggest tests will take place away from Nashville.

Though Vanderbilt only plays outside of Memorial five times, these contests will provide insight into how Ralph's squad will do against tougher opponents.

The first road trip comes quickly. Vanderbilt will set out for sunny weather to take on the Bulls of South Florida.

Come the week of Thanksgiving, the Commodores will get a taste of Power Four teams at the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California.

Vanderbilt opens up the tournament by taking on one of the Big 12’s newest additions, Arizona. The winner of that game will face the winner of Michigan State and Cal, while the losers of the first game will compete for third place the next day.

The stiff competition does not stop there, as Vanderbilt will head back to Florida to face Miami in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The final away game of the nonconference slate will take place at Dayton, a team that Vanderbilt hosted last season.

Biggest takeaways

Arizona is the biggest nonconference game

The Wildcats will be the first true test, and because of that, it is arguably one of the biggest games.

Arizona made the NCAA Tournament last season, winning its First Four game against Auburn and losing in the First Round to Syracuse. The tournament went the exact same way for the Commodores.

While Michigan State made the NCAA Tournament as well, there is no guarantee that the Spartans will go head-to-head with the Commodores.

Starting off strong against Arizona could propel Vanderbilt to be successful heading into December.

Do not underestimate USF

On paper, the USF game isn't going to scream at you, but it sure should draw some attention.

The Bulls finished last season with a record of 19-14. They played some stiff competition, like Texas, Baylor, NC State, Alabama, Arizona State and more.

USF is no stranger to playing bigger schools, and will even be playing at UConn before coming home to host Vanderbilt.

This season, Mama Dembele will look to provide her new team with some success. This is someone the Commodores are extremely familiar with, as Dembele played at Missouri for the past four seasons before making the switch to South Florida.

Take care of business at home

Being tested is important, which is what Vanderbilt will experience on the road. The teams that will come to Memorial aren't quite of the same caliber.

Because of this, winning at home is important. Butler will be the toughest battle, but with all things considered, Vanderbilt should make sure to take care of things at home.

The Commodores did not lose a nonconference game at home last year. In order to get back to where they were last season, they should look to do the same thing.