Tennessee basketball heads west on Interstate-40 as they prepare to face rival Vanderbilt in Nashville in a SEC showdown.
The Commodores are much improved under first year coach Mark Byington and are looking to earn a marquee win for their NCAA Tournament resume.
Here’s everything to know about the instate rivalry matchup.
More From RTI: Three Things To Watch For As Tennessee Basketball Travels To Vanderbilt
How To Watch — No. 6 Tennessee (16-1, 3-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (14-3, 2-2 SEC)
- Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT
- Location: Memorial Gymnasium
- Watch: SEC Network. PxP: Roy Philpott. CC: Dane Bradshaw
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -6.5 Vanderbilt
- Over/under 140.5
- Tennessee -7 Vanderbilt
- Over/under: 141
What Tennessee HC Rick Barnes Said About The Commodores
On what coach Mark Byington has done in his first year at Vanderbilt
“Mark’s done a great job. A lot of respect from Mark and the fact, I mean, I got a start like he did at George Mason. James Madison, at one time, that was a big rivalry back in the day. When I was at George Mason, that was our biggest rivalry with (James) Madison. And they were really good, obviously a good basketball team then. And he did a great job there. And I think he’s done a great job going into the portal quickly and getting guys the way he wants to play. They’re very aggressive. They create a lot of havoc. A really heavy, heavy gap team that they really go for steals. They really turn you over. And I’m impressed with what he’s done. I really am. And I’m not surprised just the little bit I’ve been around him, you can tell he believes in what he wants to do and how he wants to play and being able to do what he’s done up to this point is really— he deserves a lot of credit for a lot of it.”
On calling Byington when he got the Vanderbilt job, what he told him
“Well it goes back years ago when I first went into the Big East, I remember to this day, the coaches that as soon as I got there— I was young, I was a lot younger than him obviously, but I’d only been a head coach one year and guys that just said, ‘hey, you’re gonna be okay.’ But that always meant something to me. So when new guys that come to the league, I’ve always tried to call them, again, I’ve got respect for guys that have built where they, where he is, the way he’s come up because it’s the path that I’ve probably been through, and I’m happy for our league. Because you look at our league, I’ve always said, I think there’s been great coaches in this league and I really believe that, but I want this to be the best basketball league in the country. And I think it was a great hire for Vanderbilt. And I just, again, the way he’s gone about doing it, it shows you that they made a great decision.”
