Tim Corbin focused on SEC Tournament success, not NCAA Tournament resume

The SEC Tournament is in full swing this week, and to start things off for long-time head coach Tim Corbin and Vanderbilt, the Commodores took on Florida. That ended in a Vanderbilt win, giving the Commodores an early boost.

Following the game, Corbin met with the media. There, he explained that his and the team’s focus is on finding success in the SEC Tournament, and not boosting their NCAA Tournament resume.

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“I just think it’s all about this tournament,” Tim Corbin said. “We just want to play well in it. It’s been a very special tournament to use for over 20 years and we’ve always enjoyed being down here and just playing good baseball. So, I think that was the focus.”

In his latest Field of 64 projections, On3’s Jonathan Wagner has Vanderbilt as a three-seed. Under those projections, the Commodores would be going to the Charlottesville Regional. However, a good run in the SEC Tournament could improve that position.

“We didn’t make too much of the must-win situation. We just didn’t want to go there. The guys know, but it’s more about playing good baseball and getting off on the right foot. The first games are always difficult. They can be very tricky, especially with pitching, but we got a good start and it was a good win for the kids.”

In the 6-3 win over Florida on Tuesday, Tim Corbin turned to Bryce Cunningham as his starting pitcher. He was able to go six innings strong, not giving up any runs and striking out six. On the offensive side, the Commodores got contributions from all over, particularly the home run by Calvin Hewett in the fifth inning.

With the win, Vanderbilt advanced to play rival Tennessee on Wednesday.

Tim Corbin on why the SEC Tournament is so important to Vanderbilt

Tim Corbin took over as the head coach at Vanderbilt in 2003. Since then, he’s led the Commodores to two College World Series championships and has won the SEC Tournament three times, including in 2023. However, at the time Corbin was hired, the program hadn’t won it more than two decades.

“It was the goal in 2003 because Vanderbilt had not been in such a long period of time. So, we just made that the goal and we got it done on the very last day against a Tennessee team. Since that time, it’s carried such momentum inside the team. The next year, we played in the championship game. That was a big deal for us in 2004 in building a program,” Corbin said.

“But I can’t ever remember a year where getting on that bus and just feeling the energy of getting down here. This conference puts a lot of time and effort into it. The thing I tell the kids too, as you drive through the park and you see all those campers, and it just shows you the amount of people that care and spend a lot of money to be here. That’s meaningful. So, it’s meaningful for us to get down here and leave it all on the field.”