The Commodores got off to a rocky 1–3 start that included an embarrassing home loss to
Furman (15–16 final record, 8–10
Southern Conference). After that, Vanderbilt won 17 of their next 22 games, culminating in an 83–70 home win over then-No. 1
Florida (33–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st). They entered the NCAA Tournament winning only 2 of their last 5 games, including two losses to
Arkansas (21–14, SEC West: 7–9, 3rd), but one of the wins was a come-from-behind 67–65 home win over
Kentucky (22–12, SEC East: 9–7, 4th), their fourth straight win over the Wildcats. Vanderbilt finished the regular season tied for 2nd with
Tennessee (24–11, SEC East: 10–6) in the SEC East, four games behind eventual national champion Florida (35–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st). ==NCAA tournament==