Coach Kevin Stallings made headlines last week when he called his Commodores the "most overrated team in the country."

Stallings was clearly frustrated with his squad's effort on the defensive end when he made those comments, but there's no way he actually believed what he said. How could he?

With their impressive 97-88 victory over UMass here Saturday, the undefeated Commodores became the first team in the nation to get to 15 wins. As they head into Southeastern Conference play, they're also just one of six squads without a loss.

Are they as talented as North Carolina, Memphis or Kansas, three teams who remain unbeaten? Probably not, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of upsetting them come March.

At the very least, Vanderbilt will challenge Tennessee for the SEC title thanks in large part to the senior with the shot that's impossible to block and that Aussie kid.

There is no question that Shan Foster is the SEC Player of the Year. It's not even close. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find many players more deserving of All-American recognition than Foster.

The senior swingman is leading the SEC with 21.1 points per game, while shooting a ridiculous 54 percent from the field and an absurd 53 percent (65-for-122) from downtown. He has made 25 more 3-pointers than the next best (Alabama's Mykal Riley) and 23 more than Tennessee's Chris Lofton, who is shooting a pedestrian 34 percent.

Opponents center their game plan on shutting down Foster, and they still can't do it.

"Foster is the best player I've seen this year," said UMass coach Travis Ford. "He had 32 points, and we had a hand in his face on every shot."

Even better, Foster is no longer just a shooter. He's grabbing 5.1 rebounds per game, playing lockdown defense on teams' best scorers and leading the Commodores on and off the court.

But, Foster isn't the sole reason that Vanderbilt is off to its best start in school history. Jermaine Beal and Alex Gordon have been remarkably consistent in the backcourt, directing the Commodore offense and coming up with big shots in critical situations. Senior forwards Alan Metcalfe and Ross Neltner have been solid on the interior, while sophomore George Drake and freshmen Keegan Bell (who is playing with more and more confidence), Darshawn McClellan (nine rebounds against UMass) and Andre Walker have given Vanderbilt much-needed depth.

Oh yeah, that center from Australia is having a pretty good year, too.

While Foster is the runaway SEC Player of the Year, the same can be said for center A.J. Ogilvy as the SEC Freshman of the Year, although Ogilvy is a freshman in name only.

He's second only to Foster in scoring with 19.3 points per game, third in field-goal percentage (66 percent), seventh in free-throw percentage (80 percent) and ninth in rebounding (7.3 per game).

Ogilvy's importance, however, goes beyond the numbers. The freshman has given the Commodores a post presence they have not had in quite some time. When they go cold from the outside (which hasn't been often), they can dump it inside, where Ogilvy will most likely score or get fouled.

The scary thing for the opposition? Ogilvy, like the rest of the Commodores, is only going to get better as the season goes on.