Vanderbilt upsets No. 6 Tennessee ahead of Kentucky's trip to Nashville

by:Jack Pilgrim•about 10 hours

Jan 18, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Students rush the court celebrates the upset over the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

There just isn’t anything better than the SEC where nothing is impossible on any given Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. That includes some Memorial Magic for the Vanderbilt Commodores, Kentucky‘s next opponent a week from today in Nashville.

Hosting No. 6 Tennessee inside Memorial Gymnasium this afternoon, the Commodores led by as many as 16 while turning a six-point halftime lead into a 76-75 win. That was with the home team failing to score in the final 3:28 and the Volunteers scoring the final nine points of the game. Oh, that was also with Vanderbilt inexplicably fouling up two with two seconds to go to put Chaz Lanier on the line for two.

He hit the first, then front-ended the second, leading to chaos fighting for the loose ball with the Vols unable to get a shot off before the buzzer. Ball game, crowd storms the floor to celebrate the Dores’ first ranked win since the 2022-23 season — ironically when they defeated No. 23 Kentucky 80-73 on Senior Night.

Check out the sights and sounds from Memorial:

FINAL: Vanderbilt: 76, Tennessee: 75.

Mark Byington’s signature win. pic.twitter.com/XOeewhgb4f
— Joey Dwyer (@joey_dwy) January 18, 2025

DOWN GOES NO. 6.
Vanderbilt students storm the court as it takes down Tennessee, 76-75. pic.twitter.com/Bmg3WeM9nx
— Aiden Rutman (@RutmanAiden) January 18, 2025

Even Jelly Roll made an appearance:

Welcome to Memorial, @JellyRoll615! pic.twitter.com/Ey5GHWPuno
— Vanderbilt Athletics (@vucommodores) January 18, 2025

Kentucky will take on Vanderbilt in Nashville a week from today, followed by an immediate follow-up at Tennessee the following Tuesday. At least the Cats will get a little bit of a break when unranked Arkansas comes to town that Saturday — exactly two weeks from today.

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After seeing how hungry Alabama was coming to Lexington following a double-digit home loss on Tuesday, you’d prefer Vanderbilt knock out their emotional upset win now rather than a week from now. Storm that court, go crazy and wild. Throw the basketball goal into the Cumberland River, for all we care. Pour everything into this one, anything to help make the road a little easier for the Cats.

Kentucky is off this week until that Nashville trip while the Commodores will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide on Tuesday. It’ll be UK vs. VU on Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET, live on ESPN.