Vanderbilt scoffed at Kentucky (and its $22M roster) in October: 'I think we have a better roster than they do.'

Vanderbilt was picked to finish dead last in the SEC ahead of Mark Byington‘s debut season in Nashville with no First, Second or Third Team All-SEC members on the roster. He did, however, have 18 point guards to work with in 2024-25, giving every player on the team the same position, whether they were 5-10 or 6-9. It’s what you have to do when you’re coming from James Madison and trying to build a winning culture — bring on the gimmicks!

That approach led to a 20-win season and a 12th-place finish in the league, punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, the program’s first since 2017. Of those 20 wins? A 74-69 upset vs. No. 9 Kentucky, leading to a court storming at Memorial Gymnasium. That was the Commodores’ second top-10 home victory in a week with fans also rushing the floor after beating No. 6 Tennessee just seven days before.

That was definitely a career highlight for Vandy forward Devin McGlockton, who finished with 14 points on 6-10 shooting and six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 27 minutes against the Wildcats. Going into his senior year and second season under Byington, though, the goal wasn’t to pull off upsets using some Memorial Magic. He wanted those performances to become the expectation.

“It was amazing — court stormings are always amazing. I’ve had three in my time in college and there is no better feeling than that,” he told KSR at SEC Media Days back in October. “Hopefully we get some more this year — but hopefully we’re going to be good enough that we don’t have to court storm after beating a big team. We’ll be the big team this year.”

Mind you, this was with Vanderbilt picked to finish 11th in the SEC going into the season, ahead of only Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU and South Carolina. The Commodores returned McGlockton, Tyler Tanner and Tyler Nickel from the year before, but only those three, as good as they are. How would the other pieces fit? Could Byington follow it up with a second straight March Madness appearance?

More importantly, did they have the horses to compete with some of the high-dollar rosters in the SEC? The second-year coach talked about how playing in the toughest league in college basketball helped land some yeses from good talent on the recruiting trail, as did the proof of concept with his system and a reenergized fanbase.

Those things left him feeling optimistic entering 2025-26 with this group, no matter the preseason predictions.

“I think everybody right now is full of hope. I am the same way with this team,” he said at SEC Media Days. “We had a good year one. I know we exceeded expectations. This time a year ago, I was explaining to people what it’s like to be picked last in the league, how we’re going to handle that. This year, the roster changes. There are new guys, new excitement.”

At the time, Kentucky’s payroll was making its rounds, widely known as the most expensive roster in college basketball. The Wildcats became the New York Yankees of the sport, Mark Pope spending whatever it took to build what he thought was a championship roster.

When asked about those headlines with the $22 million and the preseason hype that came with the price tag — and whether UK had a new target on its back because of it — McGlockton stressed that expensive didn’t necessarily mean better.

When nobody was backing his group as a serious contender in the league, the senior forward made sure to call his shot.

“They have the same target on their back as everyone else in the SEC. Everyone in the SEC has a good chance, but I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people this year,” he told KSR. “I don’t really care about the money they spent on their team — I think we have a better roster than they do. We’ll be able to compete with everybody in the SEC.”

Fast forward to the season, and the Commodores jumped out to a 16-0 start with a ranking as high as No. 10 in the country, now 18-3 and No. 12 in the NET. Hosting Pope and his $22M Wildcats in Nashville on Tuesday, Byington’s squad ran Kentucky out of the building with an 80-55 victory in a game that was essentially over from the opening tip, leading by as many as 28 points.

Who knows the cost, but it’s undoubtedly a fraction of what UK paid — even considering the injured millions on the bench. And it was enough to hand the blue blood its worst loss in the annual SEC series since Billy Gillispie coached the team in 2008, that one a 93-52 result on February 12.

Like McGlockton predicted, Vanderbilt was the big team in this matchup, coming in as 6.5-point favorites — and the analytics actually liking the Commodores by double figures. There was no reason to storm the court this time around.

Instead, Byington joked afterward that Big Blue Nation would be storming the bars downtown to drown their sorrows after making the trip down to Nashville.

“We want to be Nashville’s team, and when you live in Nashville, we want to play the right way. We want to represent the university the right way, represent the city the right way. And there are times of need,” he said, addressing the snow and ice hitting the city with hundreds of thousands without power. “We had an opportunity tonight to make a lot of people feel good.

“Maybe the people wearing blue didn’t feel good, but they can go down to Broadway and get drunk or do something — it’s cold. Drink a lot, it’s cold out there right now. We knew there was extra value in us representing things the right way.”