SEC Championship Preview: Arkansas vs Vanderbilt

March 15, 2026

Who: #17/17 (#3 seed) Arkansas Razorbacks (25-8) vs #22/22 (#4 seed) Vanderbilt Commodores (26-5)
What: Arkansas is making its eighth SEC Championship appearance and first since 2017.
When: Sunday – Mar. 15 – Noon(CT)
Where: Nashville, Tenn. • Bridgestone Arena (19,295)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: ESPN / Watch ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Alyssa Lang)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– SEC Network on Sirius/XM: 106 or 190 || SXM App/Online Channel 960

– Live Stats
– Arkansas Game Notes
– Vanderbilt Game Notes
– SEC Men’s Basketball Release/Stats

NASHVILLE – Arkansas will be making its eighth SEC Tournament Championship appearance on Sunday (Mar. 15) when the #3 seed Razorbacks will face #4 seed Vanderbilt. Tipoff is set for Noon at Bridgestone Arena and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Earlier this season (Jan. 20), Arkansas was dominant from the start as six Razorbacks scored in double figures in a 93-68 victory over Vanderbilt at Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas dished out 25 assists, with just seven turnovers, and out-rebounded the Commodores, 39-27. Trevon Brazile played a key role in those numbers as he recorded his fourth double-double of the season (14th for his career) with 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds while adding five assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

Freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas each had five assists while Acuff added 17 points and Thomas 13. Malique Ewin and Karter Knox each scored 16 points.

Vanderbilt, which entered the game 10th in the NCAA in scoring at 911.4 ppg, was held to 68 points. Also, VU was 24th in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 49.6%, but was held to 37.9%. Tyler Nickel led the Commodores with 17 points. However, all 17 were in the first half, and he was 0-of-3 from the field in the second half.

NOTES:

This will be the 48th meeting between Arkansas and Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks own a 32-15 advantage in the series, including a 31-14 margin since Arkansas joined the SEC.
Arkansas is an impressive 6-1 vs the Commodores in the SEC Tourney.
Arkansas has won 10 of the last 13 games versus Vandy.
• Arkansas is 34-32 at the SEC Tourney. The Razorbacks were SEC CHAMPION in 2000 and RUNNERS-UP in ‘95, ‘99, ‘07, ‘08, ‘15, ’17. The Hogs were SWC Tournament Champions (from 1976 to 1991) in ‘77, ‘79, ‘82, ‘89, ‘90, ’91 and RUNNERS-UP in ‘80, ‘84, ’85.
Arkansas is 14-12 all-time in Bridgestone Arena.
Arkansas is 34-32 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
John Calipari is 27-9 in the SEC Tourney. He was SEC Champion in ’10, ‘11, ‘15, ‘16, ’17 and ’18 and was runner-up in ’12 and ’14. Calipari is 61-17 overall in conference tourneys as head coach with 15 titles.
Coach Cal will be making his first appearance in a conference tournament final since winning the SEC title in 2018.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X, Instagram and Facebook.