Mark Byington doubles down on confidence in Vanderbilt: 'I feel like we can win any game'

Vanderbilt is off to their best start since ’09-’10 with back-to-back weekends with Top-10 upsets inside Memorial Gymnasium.

That doesn’t surprise Mark Byington, though, with what he thinks of the Commodores. He doesn’t doubt that they can win any game if they play the way that they need to.

“At the same time, you know, I feel like we can win any game if we play the right way and stick with our strengths and our characteristics that are really good,” Byington said postgame.

One could’ve questioned Vandy through their 12-1 start in the non-conference considering who they played. However, they’ve since more than proven themselves in a 4-3 start in conference play, specifically with victories over No. 6 Tennessee and No. 9 Kentucky, with a pair of court-storms to go with them, on consecutive Saturdays.

In between the two, though, was their biggest loss of the season by 16 points at No. 4 Alabama. Still, it was that result at 103-87 in Tuscaloosa that Byington thinks led to his team playing the way that they did against UK.

“The guys, in the film session after Alabama? I mean, there was, there was some guys upset, mad at themselves. I was upset with myself. Just, with the way we left that film session, I knew that they wanted to play again,” Byington said. “You know, having, you know, a really good team, wherever they’re ranked? That probably helped focus us even more. But we wanted to play the next game.”

With this, Vanderbilt is now well within the bracket at 16-4 overall with two more games to extend that start this upcoming week. Their remaining seven ranked opponents, including the Vols and Wildcats again on the road, will need to note that too with what they’ve already done through seven games in the SEC.

SEC levies $500,000 fine on Vanderbilt for second consecutive court-storming

Vanderbilt enjoyed another upset over a ranked conference opponent on Saturday, taking down No. 9 Kentucky. The Commodores will be paying the price for their postgame celebrations, though, following another great win

Fans decided to storm the court as Memorial Gymnasium with it being the second occurrence in the past two weekends. But, overall, it’s Vanderbilt’s third offense this athletic year. That’s if you go back to football season with them rushing the field after taking down Alabama in October

BACK-TO-BACK WEEKENDS WITH A COURT STORM IN NASHVILLE 🌩️@VandyMBB ⚓️ pic.twitter.com/iYgDjNnJIR

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 25, 2025

This means the SEC will give a fine of $500,000 to Vanderbilt. All future occurrences will be at the same price as well.

Per league policy, the team will pay the fine to the opposing program – in this case the Wildcats.

The SEC policy states “institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.”

Financial penalties for violations of the league’s access to competition area policy start at $100,000 for the first offense, then jumps to $250,000 for second offense and $500,000 for the third and all subsequent offenses.