The Ole Miss Rebels (17-4) will host the Vanderbilt Commodores (20-1) after winning three home games in a row. Ole Miss was victorious in its previous game versus Missouri, 82-61, on Thursday. Cotie McMahon was its high scorer with 33 points. In its previous game, Vanderbilt lost to South Carolina on Sunday, 103-74. Its leading scorer was Mikayla Blakes with 23 points.
Matas Vokietaitis scored 22 points, Tramon Mark added 21, and Texas handed No. 10 Vanderbilt its first loss the season 80-64 on Wednesday night. Dailyn Swain had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Longhorns (11-6, 2-2 SEC), who have consecutive victories over AP Top 25 teams, having beaten then-No. 13 Alabama on Saturday. Mark scored 16 points in the second half including consecutive 3-poiners that pushed Texas ahead by nine midway through the half.
A week ago, Arizona led then-No. 2 Michigan by a single point for the top spot to barely avoid what would have been only the second-ever tie at No. 1 in the poll's 78-year history. But with Wisconsin handing the Wolverines their first loss, the Wildcats (16-0) became the easy choice at the top by earning 60 of 61 first-place votes in the latest poll.
Manning had been injured in Texas' overtime win over Mississippi State and spent the week in concussion protocol. By Friday night, he'd been removed from the team's injury report to the Southeastern Conference and started against the Commodores. Against Vanderbilt, Manning went 25 of 33. Quintrevion Wisner rushed 18 times for 75 yards and a score, and Wingo had two receptions for 89 yards for Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC).
This is a sentence I never thought I'd type: Undefeated Vanderbilt is rolling into Tuscaloosa with playoff chatter starting to swirl. And yet, here we are. The Commodores are 5-0, playing with confidence and looking nothing like the program we've come to expect. Across the field is Alabama; 3-1 and fresh off a statement upset over Georgia that reminded everyone that it is still a heavyweight, even if it looks a little different these days.
