Anchor Drop, February 15, 2023: Four in a row

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Vanderbilt’s response to its low point of the season, a 101-44 loss at Alabama a couple of weeks ago, has been impressive to say the least: the Commodores won their fourth in a row over South Carolina last night. The final was 75-64 and it wasn’t even that close; South Carolina led exactly once, at 2-0, and Vanderbilt led by 20 points at halftime. When the game story from the other team focuses on the drama surrounding that team’s future lottery pick, well, it was a good night for us.

Now, the Hustler is writing things like Back on the Bubble? Which, technically, was written prior to last night’s game, but... no, I don’t see that. I don’t think that it’s impossible for Vanderbilt to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team — Vanderbilt does have three Quad 1 wins (at Florida and over Tennessee and Arkansas at home), which is two more than Kentucky and three more than North Carolina (both of which are considered bubble teams.) But on the other hand, the team is currently 14-12 overall and sits at 92 in NET. And as of right now, the team has only one Quad 1 opportunity left in the regular season (at Kentucky.) Does 19-12 (12-6 SEC) have a shot? What about 18-13 (11-7)? Maybe, but it’s sort of telling that columns like the Bubble Watch at ESPN don’t really even acknowledge Vanderbilt. My opinion is that we can talk about this if Vanderbilt wins its next three (Auburn, at LSU, Florida.) For now, just enjoy the winning and the fact that we’re not yelling about how the coach needs to be fired. (For the record, at this point I’d be very surprised if Stackhouse doesn’t get another year — after all, he lost Scotty Pippen Jr. to the NBA and will now post at worst the same SEC record as last season.)

And — baseball season is now two days away. (Which doesn’t seem quite as important as it did two weeks ago, since the basketball team is now winning.) Yesterday, Tim Corbin discussed the SEC’s new pace of play rules, which are undeniably good since they’re mostly against straight up stall tactics. Aria Gerson made five bold predictions about the baseball team. And the Hustler podcasted about baseball, among other things (they also previewed last night’s South Carolina game, whatever.)

Bad Gambling Advice

Last night: 1-2 ATS, 1-1-1 totals; season to date: 118-119-5 ATS, 113-127-1 totals

• Ole Miss at Florida (5:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Florida -9.5, Under 138
• Alabama at Tennessee (6:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Alabama +3, Under 144.5
• Kentucky at Mississippi State (7:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Mississippi State -2.5, Under 127.5
• Arkansas at Texas A&M (8:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Arkansas +3, Over 141.5

Sports on TV

All times Central. College basketball schedule here.

• 6:00 PM: NHL: Blackhawks at Maple Leafs (TNT)
• 6:30 PM: NBA: Cavaliers at 76ers (ESPN)
• 8:30 PM: NHL: Avalanche at Wild (TNT)
• 9:00 PM: NBA: Pelicans at Lakers (ESPN)

Scoreboard

SEC Basketball: Auburn 89, Missouri 56 ... Georgia 65, LSU 63.

NBA: Raptors 123, Magic 113 ... Bucks 131, Celtics 125 ... Suns 120, Kings 109 ... Clippers 134, Warriors 124 ... Wizards 126, Trail Blazers 101.

NHL: Canadiens 4, Blackhawks 0 ... Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2 ... Devils 3, Blue Jackets 2 ... Senators 3, Islanders 2 ... Blues 6, Panthers 2 ... Jets 3, Kraken 2 ... Bruins 3, Stars 2 ... Lightning 4, Avalanche 3 ... Penguins 3, Sharks 1.