Dores continue to rise in rankings

by Barca Blog (Photo by Jimmy Jones)

The latest baseball polls are out, and as expected, the Commodores climbed the charts for the second consecutive week.

After a 4-0 week, Vanderbilt's ranking varies from No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll to No. 23 by Baseball America.

Five other SEC teams -- Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn and Ole Miss -- are also listed in the Top 25.

View the complete polls below:

USA Today/ESPN: 15th (Last Week: 17th)

NCBWA: 16th (17th)

Collegiate Baseball: 20th (24th)

Rivals.com: 21st (23rd)

Baseball America: 23rd (23rd)

Pollsters notice Commodores

by Barca Blog

Vanderbilt baseball jumped back into three national polls today after taking two out of three from defending national champion LSU over the weekend in Baton Rouge. Check out the latest rankings:

USA Today/ESPN: 17th (Last Week: 18th)

NCBWA: 17th (19th)

Rivals.com: 23rd (Not Ranked)

Baseball America: 23rd (NR)

Collegiate Baseball: 24th (NR)

Men's Basketball polls and brackets

by Barca Blog

'Dores drop in Monday's rankings
Vanderbilt's home loss to South Carolina hurt the Commodores in the latest national rankings released earlier today. VU fell seven spots to 20th in Associated Press Top 25 and four spots to 23rd in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Click Here to view the polls.

Latest NCAA bracket predictions
With one week to go, the bracketologists have different opinions on where Vanderbilt would land if the NCAA Tournament started today. A strong showing by the 'Dores in the SEC Tournament could go a long way in determining just how high of a seed they get on Selection Sunday.  

ESPN's Joe Lunardi - 4th seed
CBSsports' Jerry Palm- 5th seed
FoxSports' Kulenych/Gately - 5th seed
CNNSI's Andy Glockner - 6th seed

More talk about the Commodores
ESPN's Andy Katz thinks the Georgia-Arkansas winner could give Vanderbilt trouble in the SEC quarterfinals:

I wouldn't be stunned to see the winner of Georgia-Arkansas cause fits for Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals, and South Carolina isn't dead yet after winning at Vanderbilt to end the regular season.

FoxSports' Jeff Goodman picked Kevin Stallings as the SEC Coach of the Year and placed Jeffery Taylor on the all-conference first team.  Read More

Weekly MBB polls and brackets

by Barca Blog

Commodores climb in Monday's polls

With two more conference wins to add to their resume, Vanderbilt jumped to 13th (from 16th) in the latest Associated Press Top 25 released today. It's the highest ranking the Commodores have achieved since they held the same spot on January 7, 2008, after starting the season 15-0.

Voters in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll only moved the 'Dores up from 20th to 19th.

Click Here to view the complete rankings.

Latest NCAA bracket predictions

ESPN's Joe Lunardi placed Vanderbilt as a 3rd seed for the second consecutive week. CNNSI's Andy Glockner kept the 'Dores as a 4th seed while CBSsports' Jerry Palm gave them a 4th seed again, too.

More talk about the 'Dores

ESPN's Andy Katz wrote that the Commodores' tilt with Florida in Gainesville on Tuesday is one of the "Places to be this Week":

Florida probably won't win at Kentucky on Saturday, which means beating Vanderbilt at home is somewhat important to securing a berth.

FoxSports' Jeff Goodman ranked the VU/UF matchup as the fourth best game of the week:

Kevin Stallings’s team is playing for a seed, while Billy Donovan and the Gators could use this one to secure an NCAA tournament berth.

Finally, CBSsports' Gary Parrish admitted why he's 'dumber than he thinks' in his Monday Look Back column:

At this point I should just keep quiet about Vanderbilt, let Kevin Stallings continue to win games and never do anything to remind folks I'm the guy who picked the Commodores to finish fifth in the SEC East. But is that what I do? Nope. For some reason, I felt the need to pick Vandy to lose at Arkansas just before Vandy went to Arkansas and rolled to Saturday's 89-72 win that had Vandy fans publicly mocking me, just like always.

Weekly MBB polls and brackets

by Barca Blog

'Dores remain in rankings

Vanderbilt dropped a couple of spots in the polls today after splitting their two games last week. The Commodores are 22th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Click Here to view the complete rankings.

Latest NCAA bracket predictions

ESPN's Joe Lunardi said Vanderbilt still holds a 4th seed.

CNNSI's Andy Glockner gave the 'Dores a 5th seed, falling from a 4th seed.

CBSsports' Jerry Palm moved VU up to a 5th seed from a 6th seed.

More talk about the 'Dores

In his latest Bubble Watch, ESPN's Mark Schlabach thinks the Commodores are in good shape for postseason play:

If not for its stunning loss at Georgia, Vanderbilt might have locked up an NCAA at-large bid last week. The Commodores are still in very good shape after beating four RPI top-50 opponents. If the Commodores can win upcoming home games against Tennessee and LSU, which would improve their SEC record to 8-2, it's hard to imagine them being left out of the NCAA field. The Commodores are 4-1 against RPI top-50 opponents and 7-4 against the top 100.

Glockner believes Vandy should be in the big dance at this point in his Bubble Watch:

Vanderbilt edged Miss. State and then was handled surprisingly easily by feisty Georgia (great job by Mark Fox there, btw). No real issues at this point, though. The 'Dores get a chance for the sweep of in-state rival Tennessee on Tuesday.

ESPN's Andy Katz lists the 'Dores matchup with the Vols as one of the places to be this week:

Vandy won at Tennessee but has slumped since, with losses at Kentucky and at Georgia. Tennessee has righted itself with a win over South Carolina. Winner can stay on Kentucky's heels.

Weekly MBB polls and brackets

by Barca Blog

'Dores continue climb in rankings

Vanderbilt moved up in the polls today after their impressive victory at Tennessee last Wednesday. The Commodores are now 18th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 20th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Click Here to view the complete rankings.

Latest NCAA bracket predictions

ESPN's Joe Lunardi said Vanderbilt improved from a 5th seed to a 4th seed.

CNNSI's Andy Glockner also had the 'Dores as a 4th seed, rising from a 5th seed.

CBSsports' Jerry Palm kept VU as a 6th seed.

More talk about the 'Dores

In his latest Bubble Watch, ESPN's Mark Schlabach thinks the Commodores moved closer to locking up a NCAA bid:

The Dores have played the country's 22nd-toughest schedule and they're 3-2 against RPI top-50 teams (winning at St. Mary's and beating Missouri at home). They've also defeated fellow SEC bubble teams Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee.

CBSsports' Gary Parrish admitted he was late to the game on Vanderbilt:

Both polls ranked the Commodores last week, but I didn't because I couldn't find a marquee win on their résumé to offset the questionable losses to Illinois and Western Kentucky. Then Vanderbilt went and won at Tennessee, and that was good enough for me. Saturday's subsequent loss at Kentucky was inconsequential. The Commodores are 16-4 overall with a road win at Tennessee. I put them 16th in the Top 25 (and one).

Like Parrish, CNNSI's Seth Davis also jumped on the 'Dores bandwagon:

Vanderbilt fans have been on me all season for not ranking their Commodores, so I hope I made it up to them by installing their team at No. 15 on the basis of the win at Tennessee.

Commodores enter national rankings

by Barca Blog - Fresh off their 2-0 start, the Vanderbilt men's basketball team has jumped into the national rankings at No. 24 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.
Click here to view

The Commodores were last ranked during the 2007-08 season when they held a spot in the Top 25 for 16 consecutive weeks (December 3 to March 17).

Vanderbilt will take on Cincinnati in the Maui Invitational at 4:30 p.m. CT today. You can watch the game on ESPN2 or follow the action on vucommodores.com. Here's the game preview

MBB preseason polls released

by Barca Blog - Sure, preseason polls don't guarantee a spot in March Madness, but it's nice to see the Commodores garner some early recognition from the coaches and media.

Vanderbilt will begin its 2009-10 campaign at No. 30 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today rankings, which were released on Thursday. The Commodores return 11 scholarship players and 14 lettermen from a 19-12 team a year ago.

Three SEC teams were listed in the top 25 with Kentucky leading the way (No. 3 AP/No. 4 ESPN) as well as Tennessee (No. 10/11) and Mississippi State (No. 18/19).

Click here to view the polls