The Vanderbilt Commodores were a sleeper pick for the Final Four.
The hype made sense. Vandy boast three potential first round picks in the NBA draft, as Damian Jones, Luke Kornet and Wade Baldwin all have next level talent.
But yet, here they sit at 8-7 and 0-3 in the SEC. That wasn’t suppose to happen.
And as expected, there are loud concerns from the Vandy faithful. How is a Vandy team with this much talent one loss away from being at .500 midway through the season?
That’s an obvious question. But the more significant question is this:
Is this the end of the Kevin Stallings era?
That depends.
There’s something that everyone inside and outside the program can agree on: Vandy has to beat Auburn. There’s no other option. The Commodores enter the game as a 16-point favorite over Bruce Pearl’s squad. A loss to the Tigers would be among the worst during Stallings’ tenure.
It would also put Vandy at 0-4 in the SEC. And it would likely eliminate their NCAA tournament hopes entirely.
That’s where things could get interesting.
Vandy with an 8-8 record and no chance at making the tournament with perhaps the most talented team in the program’s history? Not good.
And that’s where the issue of firing Stallings comes into play. Fans are already unhappy. This would enrage them even further.
Everything that could go wrong has for Vandy this season. A lot of it has been the Commodores’ inability to put it all together. There have been rebounding lapses. There have been defensive lapses at the worst possible times.
But you can’t deny that this particular team has been downright unlucky as well.
Luke Kornet missed crucial games due to injury. Freshman Camron Justice did the same. Damian Jones was fouled out with eight minutes left against undefeated South Carolina on one of the worst illegal screen calls in history.
Damian Jones posts up and gets called for an illegal screen. That is the worst call I’ve ever seen.
— Blake Lovell (@theblakelovell) January 9, 2016
The ball hasn’t bounced Vandy’s way. But despite the luck, winning and losing has still been decided by this team’s play on the court.
And Vandy hasn’t done nearly enough to win games they should.
For a team that had everything within its grasp, it would be a shame for it to end like this. Without an NCAA tournament appearance. Without anything to show despite having several NBA prospects in the lineup.
And quite possibly, without its head coach of 17 years standing on the sideline next season. Or maybe even sooner than that.
Vandy vs. Auburn on Tuesday night will be must-watch TV.
Not for the game itself.
But for the ramifications that could surround it with a Vandy loss.
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.