Vanderbilt Women Earn Second Straight NCAA Tournament Bid

Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team will make its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament this year.

The Commodores (22-10) are the No. 7 seed in the Birmingham Regional 2 bracket and will face No. 10 seed Oregon in Durham, N.C., on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Ducks (19-11) went 10-8 in the Big 10 Conference this season, finishing in a four-way tie for eighth place.

The winner of that contest will play the winner of No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Lehigh.

Tennessee and Tennessee Tech also earned bids to the NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Vols (22-9) are the No. 5 seed in the Birmingham Regional 3 bracket, and they will take on No. 12 seed South Florida on Friday in Columbus. It’s the fifth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament for Tennessee and its first under first-year coach Kim Caldwell. The Lady Vols lost a second-round game to N.C. State last season.

If the Lady Vols advance, they will play the winner of the game between No. 4 seed Ohio State and No. 13 seed Montana State.

Vanderbilt Men Earn First Bid to NCAA Tournament Since 2017

Tennessee, Lipscomb, Memphis headed to Big Dance as well

Tennessee Tech is the No. 16 seed in the Birmingham Regional 2 bracket, with the Golden Eagles (26-5) to face No. 1 seed South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on Friday. Tennessee Tech won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, part of a 17-game winning streak the Golden Eagles will take into the NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt will be making back-to-back March Madness appearances for the first time since the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

In 2023-24, the ’Dores made the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Shea Ralph, who was hired in 2021. Vandy won a First Four play-in game against fellow No. 12 seed Columbia but lost 80-63 to No. 5 seed Baylor in the first round.

Vanderbilt goes into the NCAA Tournament with a NET ranking of 22 thanks, in part, to an offense that averages 83.6 points per game, seventh-best in NCAA Division I. Vanderbilt also averages 12.4 steals per contest, which ranks ninth-best nationally.

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.