Vanderbilt Commodores Enter the Top 25 As the SEC Schedule Begins

It took 11 wins in 13 tries for the Vanderbilt Commodores to reach the Top 25 in both of the major polls.

The win that most certainly propelled Vanderbilt into the Top 25 was the one-point win over pesky Marquette at Memorial Gymnasium.

The Commodores were forced to reach deeper into their bench since they were without Lance Goulbourne, the team's unquestionable sixth man.

However, the Commodores did get Andre Walker back from illness, who ended up hitting the game-winning layup.

Now, the SEC part of the schedule begins and, as usual, the Commodores enter the conference schedule with a solid record.

There's no sugarcoating how bad the SEC has looked as a whole during non-conference play. The SEC West looks worse, but the SEC East hasn't looked much better with a fair share of questionable losses.

This translates to Vanderbilt having a very realistic shot at running through the remainder of the season with only a couple more losses. They have the talent and coaching to do so.

Obviously, Kentucky will be the main obstacle to the Commodores winning the SEC.

What's so great about this Vanderbilt team is how balanced they are. They can beat teams from so many angles, which will be important with the uncertainty of how long John Jenkins may be out with a concussion suffered in practice.

Considering how much Vanderbilt relies on the three-pointer, this could be a major blow if Jenkins misses an extended period of time.

Walker is also battling an ankle injury, which caused him to miss the Davidson game as well.

This is where the bench comes into play and freshman Rod Odom has done a great job coming in off the bench.

Odom struggled a bit against Davidson, as he missed all four of his field goal attempts. If Jenkins is unable to go against South Carolina on Saturday, then Odom will most likely start in his place.

Another major contributor to Vanderbilt's surge into the Top 25 is junior Festus Ezeli, who might be the most improved player in the SEC this season.

Ezeli has gone from averaging just under four points per game last season to averaging 13 points per game so far this season. His field goal percentage of 64 percent is good for 16th in the nation.

Saturday's SEC-opener should be interesting throughout, but expect Vanderbilt to pull it out in the end with their ability to get to the free throw line and hit the three.