Can Vandy be the new #5?

[The CDR-Ret]

#5 Oklahoma and #6 Kentucky got their 2nd loses tonight. #7 Vandy and Shea are still undefeated. Will Creme move Vandy up to the best #2 seed slot tomorrow?

I like their chances. Go Vandy! Go Princeton!!

Go Huskies!!!

 

[EricSD]

Short answer - yes. Long answer - hell yes!

 

[Next 12]

#5 Oklahoma and #6 Kentucky got their 2nd loses tonight. #7 Vandy and Shea are still undefeated. Will Creme move Vandy up to the best #2 seed slot tomorrow?

I like their chances. Go Vandy! Go Princeton!!

Go Huskies!!!

If CREME has a brain in his head, Vanderbuilt has earned it!!!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think there is a gap after #4. Vandy is as good a choice as anyone. Congrats, Shea!

 

[bballnut90]

#5 Oklahoma and #6 Kentucky got their 2nd loses tonight. #7 Vandy and Shea are still undefeated. Will Creme move Vandy up to the best #2 seed slot tomorrow?

I like their chances. Go Vandy! Go Princeton!!

Go Huskies!!!

Definitely will move up to #5 in the polls next week provided they beat A&M this weekend. Major props to Shea and team, especially after losing Khamil Pierre in the offseason. Mikayla Blakes is looking like a sure fire 1st Team All American this year and might be Sarah Strong's biggest competition for NPOY.

 

[dtbtbtb]

And so far, Shea is probably leading as the Coach of the year! i doubt anyone thought Vandi be this good at the half point of the season

 

[fomalhaut]

How does 7 not move up two slots when they win by 31 points and 5 and 6 both lose?

 

[hoopsdiva]

Can we get a UConn - Vandy game on the schedule for next season?

 

[choochoo]

And so far, Shea is probably leading as the Coach of the year! i doubt anyone thought Vandi be this good at the half point of the seaso

Can we get a UConn - Vandy game on the schedule for next season?

May very well happen this year in the Championship tournament.

 

[DefenseBB]

For as an astute fan base as this forum is supposed to have, we seem to have “regular brain cramps” on how the process is supposed to operate.
1. Charlie Crème does not CONTROL anything, he merely tries to replicate what the committee will do based on their rules and past seedings. Charlie’s bracket is to show “current results” with the committee rules applied. Stop blaming him. Jeesh
2. Has ANYONE looked at Shea’s OOC? Yes, she just had 1 great win over LSU but all her other wins were mediocre to pathetic. While the dopey voters may very well vote her team far higher than they should, the committee will see right through that schedule and seed her as a 3 or 4 seed ranking (9-16) which is where she belongs until she beats a team like Kentucky, Oklahoma or Ole Miss. Can she do that? Of course she can but she needs to before we get too excited.

 

[ERWUC65]

For as an astute fan base as this forum is supposed to have, we seem to have “regular brain cramps” on how the process is supposed to operate.
1. Charlie Crème does not CONTROL anything, he merely tries to replicate what the committee will do based on their rules and past seedings. Charlie’s bracket is to show “current results” with the committee rules applied. Stop blaming him. Jeesh
2. Has ANYONE looked at Shea’s OOC? Yes, she just had 1 great win over LSU but all her other wins were mediocre to pathetic. While the dopey voters may very well vote her team far higher than they should, the committee will see right through that schedule and seed her as a 3 or 4 seed ranking (9-16) which is where she belongs until she beats a team like Kentucky, Oklahoma or Ole Miss. Can she do that? Of course she can but she needs to before we get too excited.

Perhaps a higher rating is in order, kudos to Shea and all that, but speaking for the "astute fan base" two things should give Vandy fans some concern, first being that LSU was unwarrantedly overconfident in their first meeting and the second being that top level coaches will immediately devise a coverage for Blakes and, so goes Mikayla, so goes Vanderbilt

 

[bballnut90]

For as an astute fan base as this forum is supposed to have, we seem to have “regular brain cramps” on how the process is supposed to operate.
1. Charlie Crème does not CONTROL anything, he merely tries to replicate what the committee will do based on their rules and past seedings. Charlie’s bracket is to show “current results” with the committee rules applied. Stop blaming him. Jeesh
2. Has ANYONE looked at Shea’s OOC? Yes, she just had 1 great win over LSU but all her other wins were mediocre to pathetic. While the dopey voters may very well vote her team far higher than they should, the committee will see right through that schedule and seed her as a 3 or 4 seed ranking (9-16) which is where she belongs until she beats a team like Kentucky, Oklahoma or Ole Miss. Can she do that? Of course she can but she needs to before we get too excited.

Outside of the top 4 who has more than 1 quality win and no bad losses? Who else should be above them?

 

[DefenseBB]

Outside of the top 4 who has more than 1 quality win and no bad losses? Who else should be above them?

I will give credit to Louisville for playing a harder OOC with closer loses to top teams than playing cupcake city and then also keep Oklahoma and Michigan ahead of Vandy and the sleeper now is Ole Miss who could deserve just as high a ranking as Vanderbilt. The way this thread is thinking is really “anti-Geno” and is only encouraging teams to build up their win totals by playing the poor sisters of the blind.
Seriously, what other decent team has Vanderbilt played besides LSU, who we all agree was vastly overrated?

Again, Shea has done a nice job BUT come on, play some tougher teams. The early part of her SEC schedule also helps her as she could be 20-0 before she plays SC and Ole Miss and outside of that she does have Michigan in Newark on Jan 19 so she can prove it.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Outside of the top 4 who has more than 1 quality win and no bad losses? Who else should be above them?

There is that. Vanderbilt's schedule is certainly respectable. I don't see anyone else with anything better. Vanderbilts tests will be against the better teams in the SEC, when they play them.

 

[hookshot]

For as an astute fan base as this forum is supposed to have, we seem to have “regular brain cramps” on how the process is supposed to operate.
1. Charlie Crème does not CONTROL anything, he merely tries to replicate what the committee will do based on their rules and past seedings. Charlie’s bracket is to show “current results” with the committee rules applied. Stop blaming him. Jeesh
2. Has ANYONE looked at Shea’s OOC? Yes, she just had 1 great win over LSU but all her other wins were mediocre to pathetic. While the dopey voters may very well vote her team far higher than they should, the committee will see right through that schedule and seed her as a 3 or 4 seed ranking (9-16) which is where she belongs until she beats a team like Kentucky, Oklahoma or Ole Miss. Can she do that? Of course she can but she needs to before we get too excited.

Well reality bites, but Vandy did indeed beat LSU (with the help of one missed call) and LSU is better than Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Mississippi . so what do you want of the dopey voters, they would look dopier if they ranked those teams over Vanderbilt, come Monday

 

[ec33]

For as an astute fan base as this forum is supposed to have, we seem to have “regular brain cramps” on how the process is supposed to operate.
1. Charlie Crème does not CONTROL anything, he merely tries to replicate what the committee will do based on their rules and past seedings. Charlie’s bracket is to show “current results” with the committee rules applied. Stop blaming him. Jeesh
2. Has ANYONE looked at Shea’s OOC? Yes, she just had 1 great win over LSU but all her other wins were mediocre to pathetic. While the dopey voters may very well vote her team far higher than they should, the committee will see right through that schedule and seed her as a 3 or 4 seed ranking (9-16) which is where she belongs until she beats a team like Kentucky, Oklahoma or Ole Miss. Can she do that? Of course she can but she needs to before we get too excited.

Relax. In the end Vandy will have played a demanding SEC schedule.

 

[Husky fanatic]

They just don’t have the horses to sustain a number 5 ranking. But for today they should be. Top 25 is going to be like a yoyo this year for everyone but top 4.

 

[EricSD]

Agree with a lot of the posters on here. For Vandy, they get to play a plethora of other top 10 teams and while I think a lot of the SEC will cannibalize each other, unless one team completely implodes, most of them should be in the top 15, if not the top 10.

Texas, SC, Vandy, LSU, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and maybe even Alabama and Tennessee (altho I look forward to Tennessee losing like 6 games in the SEC hopefully)... It's going to be a real dog fight...

 

[cancontent]

I will give credit to Louisville for playing a harder OOC with closer loses to top teams than playing cupcake city and then also keep Oklahoma and Michigan ahead of Vandy and the sleeper now is Ole Miss who could deserve just as high a ranking as Vanderbilt. The way this thread is thinking is really “anti-Geno” and is only encouraging teams to build up their win totals by playing the poor sisters of the blind.
Seriously, what other decent team has Vanderbilt played besides LSU, who we all agree was vastly overrated?

Again, Shea has done a nice job BUT come on, play some tougher teams. The early part of her SEC schedule also helps her as she could be 20-0 before she plays SC and Ole Miss and outside of that she does have Michigan in Newark on Jan 19 so she can prove it.

Ole Miss needs some dominant wins in conference play to help earn that spot in my opinion. They should have dominated KSU and lost by 1 point. Their loss to Michigan State was perplexing as they didn't seem to have much fight in them during the second half. Until this month, their only ranked win was against Notre Dame which can be seen as both good and bad.

 

[bballnut90]

I will give credit to Louisville for playing a harder OOC with closer loses to top teams than playing cupcake city and then also keep Oklahoma and Michigan ahead of Vandy and the sleeper now is Ole Miss who could deserve just as high a ranking as Vanderbilt. The way this thread is thinking is really “anti-Geno” and is only encouraging teams to build up their win totals by playing the poor sisters of the blind.
Seriously, what other decent team has Vanderbilt played besides LSU, who we all agree was vastly overrated?

Again, Shea has done a nice job BUT come on, play some tougher teams. The early part of her SEC schedule also helps her as she could be 20-0 before she plays SC and Ole Miss and outside of that she does have Michigan in Newark on Jan 19 so she can prove it.

Wins and losses matter though. Ole Miss, Louisville and Michigan keeping games close against the Big 4 is notable but none of them have come through with wins and I don't think they deserve higher rankings simply for keeping games competitive when they either lack quality wins and/or have bad losses:

-Ole Miss lost to an atrocious Kansas State team and blown out by Michigan State. 1 good win at Oklahoma.
-Michigan hasn't beat anyone in the top 25 and lost by double digits to #23 Washington.
-Louisville has 3 losses, none are bad. Best wins are against UNC and Tennessee (borderline top 20-25 programs).
-Oklahoma has no bad losses (Ole Miss and UCLA) but zero quality wins
-Vandy has a quality win over LSU (who I don't think is as overrated as you do) and no bad losses.

Right now their win over LSU is on par or better than any other team in contention for the #5 spot, and they have no bad losses which also puts them ahead of the curve for the #5 spot. How long it lasts for remains to be seen but I think they're more deserving than anyone else even if their overall resume doesn't look that strong for a #5 team.

 

[visitingcock]

Wins and losses matter though. Ole Miss, Louisville and Michigan keeping games close against the Big 4 is notable but none of them have come through with wins and I don't think they deserve higher rankings simply for keeping games competitive when they either lack quality wins and/or have bad losses:

-Ole Miss lost to an atrocious Kansas State team and blown out by Michigan State. 1 good win at Oklahoma.
-Michigan hasn't beat anyone in the top 25 and lost by double digits to #23 Washington.
-Louisville has 3 losses, none are bad. Best wins are against UNC and Tennessee (borderline top 20-25 programs).
-Oklahoma has no bad losses (Ole Miss and UCLA) but zero quality wins
-Vandy has a quality win over LSU (who I don't think is as overrated as you do) and no bad losses.

Right now their win over LSU is on par or better than any other team in contention for the #5 spot, and they have no bad losses which also puts them ahead of the curve for the #5 spot. How long it lasts for remains to be seen but I think they're more deserving than anyone else even if their overall resume doesn't look that strong for a #5 team.

Since it doesn’t really matter who’s number 5 at this time, they will have plenty of opportunities for good losses before the end of the SEC Tournament. I think they could make it with 4 losses. So they have some leeway.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m mainly with @DefenseBB on this one. Vandy hasn’t played enough real teams yet to give me any confidence. That will change soon enough and then we’ll know. That they are ranked at 7 and could creep up to 5 seems little more than a fluke so far. If they win a few games against the likes of OU, Michigan, Ole Miss and UK, and avoid getting blown out by SC and Texas, I’ll begin to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Next 12]

I believe we are talking about Monday's ranking on 1/13/26, not all the comments above. It would be a sign of recognition for the job that SHEA is doing with Vanderbuilt, which I believe she deserves. Nothing more.

 

[HuskyNan]

If CREME has a brain in his head, Vanderbuilt has earned it!!!!!

So that people understand what he does (and I’ll say this without snark):

1. It’s important to remember Charlie Creme is a sportswriter who is only creating material for his media outlet.
2. Bracketology is not used for seeding by the NCAA. At all. It’s as irrelevant to the seeding process as any sports article would be.
3. The Bracketology appears to be constructed using current composite rankings and conference standings. There was one time a couple years ago St John’s was shown as the Automatic Qualifier (conference champion) rather than UConn because St John’s was undefeated in the Big East at 1-0 and was listed as the conference leader. UConn hadn’t played a single conference game yet. What I’m saying is that some information might be computer generated based on certain criteria (conference standing, win-loss, etc). In other words, irrelevant. Creme isn’t showing a team as a potential seed out of malice or dislike or stupidity but because that’s how the objective criteria fall. There are Boneyarders that can (and have) put together the exact same bracket using the same numbers
4. Creme has written many articles that describe UConn as a tremendous team, talented, describing great plays by great players but, as is typical of human nature, fans don’t remember the good stuff, only what they see as a slight. And UConn fans aren’t the only ones that think Charlie Creme “hates” them. Heaven forbid a sportswriter not gush over a team like a 14 year old Swiftie! The writer’s job is to report, not be a fan-boy (I’m looking at you, too, Michael Voepel, who is often dismissed as a “hater” by every fan base with a forum)

 

[browns]

Definitely will move up to #5 in the polls next week provided they beat A&M this weekend. Major props to Shea and team, especially after losing Khamil Pierre in the offseason. Mikayla Blakes is looking like a sure fire 1st Team All American this year and might be Sarah Strong's biggest competition for NPOY.

Blakes will be a 1st team AA probably keeping Azzi from the first team (Sara,Booker,Hildago,Betts an Blakes)..as far as NPOY she may be the closest to Sara but it won't be that close