The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team will fly more than 900 miles to open a November tournament against an opponent situated an hour up the road.
ESPN on Thursday revealed the bracket for the 2025 Battle 4 Atlantis, an eight-team tournament that will be held Nov. 26-28 at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.
Each of the contests will be aired on the ESPN family of networks.
Vandy will tip off the competition at 11 a.m. CT on Nov. 26 by playing Western Kentucky, which is located in Bowling Green about 60 miles north of Nashville via Interstate 65.
The winner of the game between the Commodores and Hilltoppers will take on the winner of VCU-South Florida in a semifinal game Nov. 27. And the victor in that contest will advance to the title game Nov. 28.
The other two first-round games will pit Colorado State against Virginia Tech, as well as Wichita State versus St. Mary’s. The Gaels knocked Vandy out of the NCAA Tournament last season, defeating the ‘Dores 59-56 in the first round.
Vanderbilt has not faced Western Kentucky since 2010, when the Commodores downed the Hilltoppers 82-62. Vandy has won 11 of the past 12 meetings between the schools, and leads the all-time series 14-11.
The tournament will give the nation an early look at a Vanderbilt team that overhauled its roster after going 20-13 in Mark Byington’s first season as head coach. The Commodores added and lost eight players in the transfer portal during the offseason.
Vandy returns three impact players from last season — forward Devin McGlockton, guard/forward Tyler Nickel and guard Tyler Tanner.
Western Kentucky finished 17-15 overall last season, marking the Hilltoppers’ eighth straight winning record. But WKU, which made the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24, lost its four leading scorers to the transfer portal during the offseason.