Major opening round SEC Tournament game for our Vanderbilt Commodores tonight at approximately 7:30 CT versus the Georgia Bulldogs on the SEC Network.
We are the 11th seed and they are 14th. Rodney Chatman is expected to play, according to Stack. Hopefully, Rodney can go 20 minutes, maybe more. Stack said it’s his last go around in college, so he’s ready. Need big games from Scottie, Rodney, Jordan, Liam, Q, Myles, Trey etc… The winner faces Alabama Thursday night at 7:30 ish on the SEC Network. Big game for the team as we try to make a deep run at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Seating capacity is 20,500.
Scotty was named First Team All SEC and Jordan Wright was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Scotty just missed making the Dean’s List last semester. So great stuff from the guys. Proud of the whole team for their never quitting attitude. This is a new season with endless possibilities.
I asked Stack on Monday what can he do to help his team shoot free throws better late in the game. He said he’s tried everything, pleading with his guys. getting down on one knee, building them up. He asked me if I had any ideas. Pretty funny. Maybe piping in some crowd noise with the players on the line and putting 5 seconds on the scoreboard in practice, that’s my idea. I know Stack is frustrated with it. Maybe our players have been through it so much now that they can relax in crucial moments and just focus on their fundamentals and knock’em down. May very well need to tonight. We’ve defeated Georgia twice this season, and it’s always tough to win 3 times against a team in one season. But we have no choice. We don’t want to go home. Stack said you have to guard against a little bit of overconfidence and the other team is so homed in on beating you, that it’s always a tremendous challenge.
If we can get this done it would enhance our resume for the NIT. As Liam Robbins said on Monday, the goal is the NCAA’s, and we won’t give up on that until the clock has run out on us in a loss, and there’s always a chance to make a deep run in this tournament.
Will have recap tomorrow.
Baseball had a highly successful trip to Hawai’i last weekend sweeping the Rainbow Warriors in a very complete, successful 4 game effort. We are now 10-2, ranked 4th in the country by D1 Baseball behind No.1 Texas, No.2 Ole Miss, and No.3 Arkansas. We host Wagner this weekend at the Hawk. Will have more on that coming up in the next couple of days.
Men’s tennis won at Arkansas on Sunday, so super victory for the team. Lost a tough one to No. 15 Georgia last Friday at home, 4-3. We are now 8-2 and host No. 12 Northwestern today at 1 PM CT at the Currey Tennis Center. So huge match for the men. Matches @Texas A&M this Friday at 6 PM CT and vs Drake at home Sunday at 9 AM CT. Big day today for the men.
Women’s Tennis lost a couple of tough ones to Auburn, 4-3, and Alabama, 5-2. We are now 8-3, and host Arkansas Friday at 1 PM CT at Currey and Sunday at home vs Missouri at 12:30 PM CT.
So, a lot of excellent stuff going on for the teams. Let’s get this done in basketball tonight and men’s tennis today.