Vanderbilt made an epic run in the SEC tournament. They defeated Florida on the way to playing for the SEC Championship, but would fall to Arkansas. 86-75. Regardless, Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington expected a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The March Madness brackets are out, and Vanderbilt got the number five seed in the South Region. While a five seed is solid, it still shocked some fans and left some wondering why they were seeded so low.

“Only major gripe is Vanderbilt as a No. 5 seed. Entered today ranked… 8th in KPI, 7th in SOR, 9th in WAB, 14th in BPI, 11th in KP, 10th in TRK. Not sure where a No. 5 comes from (had them as a No. 4),” Lukas Harkin of Basket Under Review posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The final rankings provided by the NCAA had Vanderbilt as the 17th overall team, giving them the best of the five seeds. Meanwhile, Arkansas finished as 16, just one spot in front of Vanderbilt, but a full line ahead of the Dores.

“Alabama AD is on the NCAA Selection Committee so that is how they got the 4 seed and not Vanderbilt,” a Vanderbilt fan posted on X. 

Others went directly after Greg Byrne, the Alabama AD, as well

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Others just expressed their shock over the five seed.

Fans may have a point. Vanderbilt is 12th in the Ken Pom Rankings, yet sits as a five. Meanwhile, Tennessee was 16th and sits as a six. One line may not make a massive difference, though. Vanderbilt still has a solid draw. They will open their tournament against McNeese before potentially playing Troy. If they can make it to the Sweet 16, the Dores may get a rematch against Florida, which they defeated by 17 points in the SEC tournament.