And here's your first bracketologist with Vandy in first four out

[AuricGoldfinger]

http://www.bracketwag.com/

[GoheenFan88]

It sure is nice to see the team mentioned at all in regards to the NCAAs. I didn’t think we’d make the NIT after the Bama loss.

[Jason94]

http://www.bracketwag.com/

This stuff just isn't that difficult for those who are paid to pay attention to it, which is why Lunardi is one of the most overpaid individuals on television. He will not be judged on saying something dumb like UK being out of the tournament last week, and his final bracket will be put out when all but a few slots would have been set in stone, so he can say that he correctly picked 66 of 68 teams, which in reality it was more like 2 of 4.

As for Vandy - the task remains straightforward - win out and make the tournament. There is probably a path with us losing to either UK or MSU, but 3-1 to finish the regular season is probably the minimum and would require at least 1 win in the SEC-T.

It would feel like 19 wins would be the floor for us to make the tournament and 20 would probably have us in pretty safely. With at least 5 games remaining this is an achievable task. Bonus points for beating UK and MSU as they are both teams in contention for a tournament spot.

[Versus75]

http://www.bracketwag.com/

North Carolina WAS ahead of Vanderbilt in the First Four Out. And then lost to North Carolina State. While State is a good team, it was still another loss for the Tar Heels who still do not have a single NET Quadrant 1 win this season. Vanderbilt has FOUR.

We should move up a notch.

[coachinwaiting]

Less than 3 more regular season wins probably means a couple of wins in the SEC-T, unless some of the teams around Vandy implode a bit. Getting into the dance, even if just barely, will be a good accomplishment and a confidence boost to the team/program. Getting in and winning the first round will be serious building block material for Stackhouse, who I would have bet was dead coach walking a few short weeks ago.

[Obvious]

How useful is the rpi these days? We’re currently 45th.

[cc11316]

Two games a week is the theme. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were looking at 11-12 (4-6 SEC) where the NIT looked kind of unlikely to a week later with the UT/@Fla wins where 13-12 (6-6 SEC) made the NIT a viable option. Finally this week with the @SC/Aub wins (15-12 8-6 SEC) it really put the NIT in play as I see the latest projections has VU as a #7 seed (https://www.dratings.com/predictor/bracketology/).

Another huge week, @LSU/Fla can either take this team back to looking up at the NIT or being on some serious bubble contention. These are two winnable games and probably favored in both. This could really set up some drama in the final week with @UK/MSU looming. Fun to be a Vandy fan right now.

[3rdFloorDyer]

North Carolina WAS ahead of Vanderbilt in the First Four Out. And then lost to North Carolina State. While State is a good team, it was still another loss for the Tar Heels who still do not have a single NET Quadrant 1 win this season. Vanderbilt has FOUR.

Anyone know what happened to North Carolina this year? They were ranked #1 preseason and had 4 starters returning from the national championship game. Now they may not make the tourney. Injuries?

[docdore]

b. manek ran out of eligibility.

[charlestonalum]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could soell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

[mathguy]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could soell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

I'll worry about that when I need to worry about that.

a) As much as I've loved the last few weeks, and I have generally supported Stack, I wouldn't exactly consider him being poached by another team a tragedy.

b) While this year has been a massive disappointment for UNC, I don't see them firing their native son second year coach literally 12 months removed from beating archrival Duke in the final four to reach the NCAA title game.

c) I certainly don't see them firing their native son coach whose 2-year career is "1 NIT and 1 NCAA finals" to replace him with a native son coach whose 4-year career is "2 years no tourney, 1 NIT and (hopefully) 1 NCAA bid"

[docdore]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could soell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

not yet, but hubert davis better kick the 'heel program into a higher gear quickly i would think. meh won't be acceptable for long on tobacco road.

[dore74]

As a public service to the anti-jinx effort, we'll probably lose to LSU and Florida this week.
thank you and back to our scheduled programing

[Obvious]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could soell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

not yet, but hubert davis better kick the 'heel program into a higher gear quickly i would think. meh won't be acceptable for long on tobacco road.

Hubert is safe right now. UNC is loyal to their own and he’s only a season removed from being national championship runner up.

[Obvious]

I do think if stackhouse leaves it would probably be for UNC and that’s about it.

[charlestonalum]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could spell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

a) As much as I've loved the last few weeks, and I have generally supported Stack, I wouldn't exactly consider him being poached by another team a tragedy.

Another question, then, mathguy, is there another coach in the SEC that you would rather were at Vanderbilt. I am on record as saying I like Barnes, but I have problems with all the others including Alabama's, and I am quite pleased we have a still rapidly learning/maturing coach Stackhouse. I would consider his loss a tragedy, but we can agree to disagree - it's ok. Anyone else have thoughts? He still has, as they say, a lot of "upside" as he continues to learn the job.

[buffy]

Hiring a great coach is a very, very difficult thing. Why? There's not many of them. We can finally state we're seeing AUTHENTIC, steady improvement for our program. We're no longer scrubs. And against all odds, Stack is the one we must credit. We have a good coach who is still learning this job. Who knows, he might turn out to be great. Winning is fun.

Two months ago, I was lamenting the lack of roster strategy with Stack. That still holds, but all of the sudden, the players are filling their roles. We still need shooters and ball handlers, but man, we're doing pretty good with the tools we have. Bryce Drew would still be clapping us through the season (couldn't resist).

[mathguy]

UNC collapse and Stackhouse resurrection could spell disaster for Vanderbilt. No question where Stack considers home.

a) As much as I've loved the last few weeks, and I have generally supported Stack, I wouldn't exactly consider him being poached by another team a tragedy.

Another question, then, mathguy, is there another coach in the SEC that you would rather were at Vanderbilt. I am on record as saying I like Barnes, but I have problems with all the others including Alabama's, and I am quite pleased we have a still rapidly learning/maturing coach Stackhouse. I would consider his loss a tragedy, but we can agree to disagree - it's ok. Anyone else have thoughts? He still has, as they say, a lot of "upside" as he continues to learn the job.

That's fair. There are "better coaches" in the SEC for sure. Do I want them at Vandy? That's a more debatable point. Bruce Pearl and Cal are two examples of guys that are probably better coaches, but that I wouldn't want here.

Regarding Stack directly. I think he's a good coach. I feel like the team always improves with him. Depending on how this season finishes, I might be able to continue to say that every season under Stack has been better than the season before. That said, this is year 4. We've yet to make the NCAAs. This current winning streak that has us currently on the far edge of the bubble is perhaps the closest we've come. And this is in an era of the transfer portal where you can turn teams around real quick.

So do I want to run Stack out of town? No. Do I give his job performance a thumbs up or a thumbs down? Broadly a thumbs up. But if he left of his own accord and we had to replace him ... I think the idea that our next hire would be comparable in terms of skill and success is the most likely outcome. So I like the idea of keeping him ... but if he decided to leave, I wouldn't feel like that's going to set our program back another 5 years.

[UltimateVUFan]

I could EASILY see a scenario where Stack leaving set the program back 5 years. He’s building positive momentum this year, has strengthened his recruiting each year he’s been with the program (retention is debatable, though; we’ll see if he keeps this year’s class mostly intact, but the inbound class looks solid, too), and VU has more guys in the NBA than any time in recent decades (some of the credit for that goes to the other guy(s); but Stack definitely further developed Nesmith, Lee, and Pippen; and Robbins sure seems to be making a late push for NBA consideration).
Lastly, from outward appearances, his players that buy into the system like him. He’s a no-nonsense, “effort gets you PT” kinda coach. Some guys get that, and it seems to be working down the stretch of this season.

Hiring someone else would no-doubt lose recruits, not to mention the NBA cache Stack brings to the table.
Obviously this is all hypothetical, but I suspect VU could do much worse given the challenges inherent in the shifting landscape of the college game, NIL, etc. Stack is growing as a college coach, and he seems like the type of fierce competitor that won’t rest until he gets it done.

[cc11316]

I would argue that the emergence of Robbins as one of the best bigs in America has been the difference. When he plays well, Vandy usually wins. Stack is just a beneficiary but he did recruit him so he deserves that credit. I'm just saying these conversations are much different if Robbins hadn't come back when he did as VU is likely looking at no postseason, losing record and a Day 1 game in the SEC-T.