Key Highlights
- 1 seed for March Madness — Vanderbilt lost on the road to unranked Georgia, 76-74. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGiven the lessons that could be gleaned from the committee’s first ranking — namely, that recency matters and rough losses can harm positioning quickly — it’s fair to assume that Vanderbilt’s standing as a No.
- 1 seed is squarely in question now, if not out of reach without some help from other teams in the conversation (Texas) losing a few more. The Commodores’ leapfrogging of Texas was largely due to their recent head-to-head win and how uncompetitive the Longhorns looked in that loss, even though Texas has the advantages in strength of schedule, NET ranking and Quad 1 wins. To call the loss to Georgia “bad” would be unfair.
- The Bulldogs’ NET ranking of 35 means Sunday’s setback was still a Quad 1 loss, but the only other team in the top 10 with a loss to an unranked team since the start of 2026 is Michigan, which lost to Washington on Jan.
- 1 (and since, the Huskies have entered the AP Top 25). Even though the Commodores owned key statistical categories — 17 second-chance points to Georgia’s five; 18 points off Georgia’s 19 turnovers to the Bulldogs’ seven points off Vandy’s 10 turnovers; an impressive 20-of-22 shooting from the free-throw line — Vanderbilt just couldn’t quite get over the hump. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the floor, including 62 percent on 2-point attempts.
- They were led by Dani Carnegie, whose 18 first-half points — including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc — helped give Georgia the momentum and a three-point lead going into halftime.