Byington Update

On December 21, 2025, Vandy beat Wake Forest -- on the road -- 98 to 67.  The win ran Vandy's record to 12-0 and pushed its ranking on Ken Pom all the way up to Number 8.   But Duke Miles, the Vanderbilt shooting guard, missed the next two games -- and still wasn't at 100 percent when SEC play resumed.  Miles finally missed six games in a row between January 27 and February 18, and did not play more than 30 minutes in any game until Vandy's overtime win at Ole Miss on March 3.  That game, which Vandy won 89-86, was Miles's first appearance with more than 30 minutes since January 17.  But yesterday, in the SEC quarter-finals against Tennessee, Miles carried the Commodores to victory with 30 points.  It was his sixth MVP award of the season from Ken Pom, but his first since December 17.

The one good thing about Miles's absence was that it allowed Tyler Tanner, Vandy's sophomore point guard, to become a start.  According to Ken Pom, Tanner was the most valuable player in the SEC, and he kept Vandy afloat through a very long and difficult stretch of SEC play where the Dores did not have all their weapons.

Vandy had also been in a shooting slump of late.  As a team, Vandy makes 35.4 percent from 3-point range.  But they went 7-28 (25.0 percent) in a loss at Lexington on February 28, then 9-32 (28.1 percent) in a win at Ole Miss, 5-10 (50.0 percent) in a win at Knoxville, and 7-27 (25.9 percent) in a win over UT in the SEC quarter-finals.  For those four games, in other words, the Dores went 28-97 (28.9 percent) from three-point range -- well below their average.  They were due to get hot.

And today, they did.  With Miles back at full strength today (33 minutes, 15 points, 7 assists), Tanner looking like an NBA player (20 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, only 1 turnover), and the Dores finally hitting from the outside (10-21, 47.6 percent), Vanderbilt blew the Florida Gators off the court.  Coming into this game, Florida was on a 12-game winning streak.  The Gators had zoomed up to number 4 on both Ken Pom and the AP rankings.  They were 26-6, with all six losses coming by nine points or less.  At almost no point in any game all year had they been far behind.  All that ended today.  Vandy was up 47-34 at the half -- and then built the lead to 76-51 (!) with 8:11 left in the game, before cruising home with a surprisingly easy 91 to 74 win.  Vandy advances to the SEC finals for only the second time since the tournament was restarted in 1979 -- and the first time since the Dores won the tournament in 2012.

Florida fans will remember that Kentucky lost to Vandy in the final of that 2012 tournament -- and then regrouped to win the NCAA's.  And I believe that Florida will be a very tough out in the big tournament.  The Gators controlled a very physical slugfest with Kentucky yesterday, and I'm not sure anyone can beat Vandy when they are as hot as they were today.  This loss will help the Gators focus and prepare for next week, even if it costs them a Number One seed.

But meanwhile, today belongs to Vanderbilt, which captured one of the greatest wins in its history.  If the Commodores retain the services of Coach Mark Byington, the 49-year-old wizard who has gotten them this far in only two years, they should be formidable for many years to come.  Vandy has always been a sleeping giant of basketball -- they have money, a great school, a great conference, and the best gymnasium in college sports.  But they've never been willing to do what was needed to hire -- and retain -- a top-notch coach.  Byington now appears to be that coach, and we'll see if Vandy keeps him.