NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Memorial Magic is back in a very big way for Vanderbilt with the Southeastern Conference’s only private university as the nation’s only program with both its men’s and women’s teams still undefeated. <\/p>\n
And both are playing some of the best ball in the long history of this program. <\/p>\n
The 11th-ranked men<\/a> matched the best start in program history Saturday. beating LSU<\/a> for Vanderbilt’s 16th win, matching the start by the 2007-08 squad. The women<\/a> already are 16-0, ranked No. 7 and visit Texas A&M on Sunday needing a win to match the school-record 17-game streak by the 1992-93 Final Four team to open that season.<\/p>\n Add in football with its its historic season, and Vanderbilt’s top three programs are a combined 42-3. <\/p>\n Men’s coach Mark Byington, in his second season, said sharing the Huber Center, which opened in January 2025, allows him to watch Shea Ralph and her assistants and players work every day. He hopes she can say the same thing about his team. <\/p>\n \u201cBoth teams prepare really hard, and we cheer for each other like crazy …,\u201d Byington said. “The way that their culture is is very impressive, and I know it\u2019s a reason for the success and just how hard they work. So I hope some … say the same thing about us and I think it\u2019s what we try to do as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Credit goes to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and athletic director Candice Storey Lee. They started their Vandy United<\/a> fundraiser that helped build that new basketball building where the men and women have their own separate floors with gyms, locker rooms, meeting rooms and offices. <\/p>\n Lee lured Shea Ralph away<\/a> from UConn in April 2021. She fired Jerry Stackhouse<\/a> and hired Byington<\/a> after he coached James Madison to a first-round upset of Wisconsin at the NCAA Tournament in March 2024. He took a program that went 9-23 before he arrived to the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. <\/p>\n Byington, who coached alongside Curt Cignetti, head coach of Indiana’s top-ranked football team, during his tenure at James Madison and has helped the Commodores take a bigger step in his second season.<\/p>\n His Commodores have trailed for only 22 minutes, 2 seconds combined, over only three games. Their biggest deficit? Five points against Western Kentucky and Memphis, and they’ve only trailed twice after halftime. <\/p>\n New Haven coach Ted Hotaling got an up-close look as the Commodores wrapped up the nonconference slate<\/a>. His team opened the season at UConn and also played Seton Hall, and Hotaling said, \u201cThis is, I think, the best offensive team that we’ve played.\u201d<\/p>\n LSU coach Matt McMahon says sophomore guard Tyler Tanner has turned into one of basketball\u2019s great closers. Alabama coach Nate Oats said Wednesday night the SEC championship comes through Vanderbilt after the Commodores beat his Crimson Tide.<\/a><\/p>\n Byington isn’t looking past a visit to Texas on Wednesday night at what might be possible this season. <\/p>\n \u201cYou look too far ahead in this league, you get so anxious you might not want to coach anymore or play anymore. Like it\u2019s like a gauntlet, it is a challenge every one of them,\u201d Byington said. “So I know it\u2019s coaches\u2019 speak. It\u2019s just what\u2019s next, one at a time. And then do the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n Ralph has taken Vanderbilt to consecutive NCAA Tournaments still looking for the program’s first win since 2013. Missouri coach Kellie Harper, whose Tigers lost to Vanderbilt<\/a> on Thursday night, said Ralph established what she wanted the Commodores to look like at the start, with playing hard the signature. <\/p>\n \u201cAs she continues to bring in really talented players, you can see it\u2019s the same effort,\u201d Harper said. “It\u2019s the same philosophy, but she\u2019s got a lot of really good players on the court now.\u201d<\/p>\n The best is sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes<\/a>, the SEC’s leading scorer averaging 23.8 points. The Vanderbilt coach knows from her experience winning championships at UConn that having great players is nice. Having a complete team matters as much, if not more. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re formidable because we are a great team,” Ralph said. \u201cAnd I think in order to do the things that we want to do here in this program, this year and beyond, we need to have a great team for chemistry, our culture, our contributions, all the things on the court, off the court in the classroom, in the community. It all matters.\u201d<\/p>\n All five starters scored at least 15 points against Missouri \u2014 only the second time since 1999-00 that an SEC team had managed that. Senior Justine Pissott, who transferred from Tennessee after her freshman season, said every player on the roster wants to win \u201creally bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year since I\u2019ve been here, we said, \u2018Dang, we\u2019re right there,\u2019” Pissott said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s like, we don\u2019t really want to say we\u2019re right there anymore. It’s like, \u2018We did that.\u2019”<\/p>\n For Ralph, that daily approach is what she wants to see. <\/p>\n “We\u2019re going to operate a certain way, so that we give ourselves our chance to be competitive for championships,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the men\u2019s AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-basketball<\/a> ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the women\u2019s AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP mobile app). AP women\u2019s college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/womens-college-basketball<\/a><\/p>\n