John Calipari 'feels bad' Vanderbilt missed NCAA Tournament

Vanderbilt stacked up well against the John Calipari coached Kentucky team this season. The two SEC foes faced off three times this year with the Commodores winning twice.

Both wins came in the month of March and gave the Wildcats two losses in their final three games heading into the Big Dance.

But Vanderbilt won’t be joining them. The Commodores did not make the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Calipari said he feels for Vanderbilt, who he thought was playing really good basketball.

“What I was looking at today more than anything else was what teams would be left out because I feel for those coaches and those kids,” Calipari said. “That’s why I kept calling TJ over. Who is it that’s hanging there? Who is it that’s not getting in? I feel bad for Vandy and their team. They played great at the end of the year. I have no idea why their quote NET [unquote] was what it was. I have no idea. But I feel bad for them.”

Vanderbilt will play in the NIT. They are a No. 2 seed and will play Yale in the first round. As for Kentucky, they are the No. 6 seed in the East Region and will face Providence in the first round.

While he was focused on which teams didn’t make it, Calipari said that you could see the delight in the faces of the teams that made the tournament.

“There’s excitement,” Calipari said. “You could tell. Everybody’s juice. Everybody’s 0-0. All these records mean nothing now. Everybody is 0-0. You take care of what’s in front of you. You stay in the moment. You enjoy this together. Shut your phones off. You don’t need anybody else in our circle. They’ll want to be in there. Oh, they want to tell you how to play. Just don’t. Shut the phones off. Worry about each other.”

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2023 NCAA Tournament East Region Bracket

No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 16 Texas Southern/Fairleigh Dickinson

No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic

No. 5 Duke vs. No. 12 Oral Roberts

No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Louisiana

No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Providence

No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 14 Montana State

No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 USC

No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 15 Vermont