Coming off of yet another spanking of the old SEC kingpin – Kentucky – in the conference opener, the 13th-ranked Crimson Tide now turn their attention to the new NIL-era powerhouse of the SEC – the #11 Vanderbilt Commodores. The undefeated ‘Dores are doing even bigger things on the court than they did on the gridiron this year, so Alabama will absolutely need to bring its best effort tonight in the house of horrors that is Memorial Gymnasium. Nate Oats has successfully exorcised a lot of the demons
that the Tide has dealt with when visiting that ridiculous excuse of a basketball arena, but it’s still a really tough place to play due to the odd layout of the gym – benches on the baseline, crazy sightlines, and an antiquated seating arrangement where fans/students are below the surface of the court like it’s a heavyweight boxing match. It’s truly a bizarre setup.
That being said, a heavyweight boxing match isn’t the worst analogy for tonight’s battle between the two highest ranked teams in the SEC. Alabama looked every bit the conference contender we were hoping to see this season on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, eviscerating the Wildcats in a game where Bol Bowen was out and Aiden Sherrill only played nine minutes before leaving with a knee injury of his own. Noah Williamson – who I’ve called out in this space previously – had by far his best game in Crimson and White against Kentucky, and I wanted to give him a shoutout for that. It was needed in the post with all of the ‘Cats’ size. Really loved hearing the crowd get behind him the other day in Coleman.
How to Watch
What: #13 Alabama (11-3, 1-0 SEC) at #11 Vanderbilt (14-0, 1-0 SEC)
Where: Cursed Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville TN
When: 8:00 pm CST
TV: ESPN2
Line: Vandy -4.5
Mark Byington didn’t take long to make his mark in Nashville. After a record-setting year leading James Madison to 32 wins and an NCAA Tournament victory over Wisconsin in 2024, Byington led the Commodores back to the Big Dance in his debut season last year – the ‘Dores first appearance since 2017. And now in just Year Two, he has Vanderbilt dreaming about cutting down some nets come March.
The ‘Dores are an analytical darling. Kenpom has them ranked as the sixth-best team in the country. BartTorvik has them at #5. They are a mirror image to what Nate Oats likes to do – play with pace, get paint touches, and end every offensive possession with a three, layup, or free throw. Their point guard, Tyler Tanner, has been insanely efficient this season – he’s averaging 16.2 PPG on 52.7%/43.1%/87.3% with 5.5 APG (30.8% AST% – top 100 in the country) and 2.5 SPG (4.7% STL% – 35th in the country). Combine him with a bunch of quick guards and wings who play with really active hands and can shoot the lights out, and you’ve got an incredibly dangerous team that can turn a close battle into a blowout in a matter of minutes.
Make no mistake about it, these might be the two best teams in the SEC doing battle in early January.
Three Keys to Victory
- Win the Perimeter Battle. As mentioned, both of these teams want to run the floor, attack the paint, and kick-out for open threes. Alabama is #3 in the country in Three-Point Rate; Vandy is 63rd. The ‘Dores are shooting 37.9% from the arc, whereas Alabama comes in not far behind them at 36.1%. This is going to be a total track meet.
- Flex the Athleticism and Experience Advantages. So, what comes in handy in a back-and-forth track meet? Having athletic players who have been there before. Vanderbilt has looked incredible in their games thus far this season. But their non-conference Strength of Schedule landed at 122nd in the country this year. And they opened up SEC play with arguably the worst team in the conference – South Carolina. They’ve been an analytics darling because they have blasted a lot of solid-to-good teams. But the Tide represent a significant step-up in competition tonight. Simply put, the Commodores haven’t seen a team like Alabama yet. Meanwhile, the Tide played the 12th-toughest schedule in the country in non-conference play and opened up 2026 with Kentucky. As much as I love the analytics, I’ve seen a lot of Kenpom favorites get punched in the face when making that step-up in competition. Alabama should be the more physical team, and Vanderbilt only really has one true big man in the rotation – North Carolina transfer Jalen Washington – who is, candidly, not exactly an imposing force in the post.
- Take Care of the Basketball. So, how does Alabama lose if they are hitting shots and taking advantage of the edge I just laid out? Well, by turning the ball over, of course! Vandy is not only great on offense (4th in Offensive Efficiency), they are also really freaking good on defense (15th). That’s where the ‘Dores have separated themselves from the Tide this year. I mentioned Tanner’s penchant for stealing earlier, but he doesn’t even have the stickiest hands on the team. Duke Miles is 8th in the country in Steal Rate at 5.2% and averages 2.8 per game. Think about that. If Tanner and Miles are on the floor together, Vandy is getting a steal from one of them once in about every ten possessions. Fourteen games in! That’s an unbelievable stat.
To quote a former Tide Hoops coach – buckle up, folks. This one could be a doozy tonight. The total is currently listed at 179.5. As far as the macro view of this game is concerned, it’s about as big as a Wednesday night game in early January gets. Florida’s guard play is terrible. Tennessee is in quite a bit of a funk. Arkansas is really talented, but we’ve all seen how that’s played out for John Calipari teams in recent seasons. Auburn is fading back to irrelevance one terrible showing at a time. Kentucky is starting to resemble Nebraska football. This game really might end up being the difference in whether or not the Tide is cutting down nets in March and celebrating another regular season SEC title.
This post will serve as our Game Thread again. I promise I’ll start making dedicated posts for that, but it wasn’t in the cards tonight. Either way, massive game tonight, folks. Roll Tide
