At 6:20 p.m. tonight, the Vanderbilt Commodores start their season. The No. 4-seeded Dores (26-7) have their first test in the No. 13 Siena Saints (22-10) at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
The season has been a streaky one for the senior-less Saints, opening the year with back-to-back losses and responding the following week with a win over No. 20 Stanford. But Siena couldn’t build on the upset, dropping their next game to Cornell.
Despite the inconsistency, Siena enters the tournament playing its best basketball of the season.
The Saints take on Vandy after winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. After sharing the regular season title, Siena was awarded with a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which happened to be played on their home court in Albany, N.Y.
Their six game winning streak is largely attributed to three star players. Sophomore Edwin Ubiles leads the team with 17.3 points per game, with junior guard Kenny Hasbrouck following with 15.6 ppg. Forward Alex Franklin rounds out the big three with 15.3 ppg. The sophomore also pulls down most of the rebounds, averaging eight boards per game.
Vanderbilt enters Friday’s game following a disappointing loss to Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Though the Dores have yet to play their first NCAA Tournament game, their road to the tournament has been reminiscent to earlier experiences.
Vandy had a similar season-ending experience last year, falling to Arkansas in the opening round of the conference tournament. The losing feeling didn’t last long, as the Dores responded by bouncing back in the big dance against George Washington and Washington State. (You could also argue that they continued that momentum against Georgetown, but that’s neither here nor there.)
Another familiarity lies in the lack of respect given to the Dores by the national media.
Before the Dores made a run to the Sweet 16 in 2004, they were picked as a trendy upset pick against No. 11 Western Michigan.
Last year, analysts felt the back-to-back losses to Arkansas would translate into an early first-round exit.
This year, ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi called Vanderbilt “the most overrated team in the field,” an opinion shared by several college basketball analysts. The negative press is eerily similar to the last two Tournaments, with each of the two predicted “upsets” ending in opening round victories.
Let’s hope history repeats itself again.
