{"id":765699,"date":"2026-02-21T00:56:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/765699\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:56:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:56:32","slug":"dores-prepare-to-host-rival-vols-with-sec-tourney-seeding-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/765699\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dores prepare to host rival Vols with SEC tourney seeding on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) &#8211; Vanderbilt returns home on Saturday to face a Tennessee squad who\u2019s won seven of its last eight games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Commodores are coming off a one-point loss at Missouri, where Tyler Tanner\u2019s last-second shot to win rimmed out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Now, Vanderbilt turns the page to its in-state rival and the Commodores expect the return of their second-leading scorer, Duke Miles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Miles missed the last six games with a knee injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cHe\u2019s in incredible shape,\u201d said Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWatching him in practice, he looks really good. I think his rhythm will be good. There is an adjustment. What helps him, he\u2019s very smart. He watches the game and understands it. He\u2019s been staying locked in, so if there is a bit of an adjustment, I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be for long. We expect him to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Miles was averaging nearly 17 points per game before his absence.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link | text-reset d-block h-100 w-100\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsmv.com\/page\/our-apps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"WSMV - template image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771635390_686_PYQCNXWUIVE27BALA565ZY2LFQ.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Meanwhile, the Volunteers rolled into town on Friday. They\u2019re led by freshman guard Nate Ament, who\u2019s averaging 18.2 points per outing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ament dropped 29 points in a win over Oklahoma earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Vols\u2019 point guard Ja\u2019kobi Gillespie is the floor general. The former Belmont point guard returns to Nashville to face his newly acquired rivals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI\u2019ve watched it growing up, but it\u2019s my first time playing in it,\u201d says Gillespie. \u201cIt\u2019ll be exciting. I think it\u2019ll be fun. I feel like it\u2019s going to be crazy, but I don\u2019t really know. I\u2019m just ready to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Jaylen Carey returns to Memorial Gym as a Volunteer. This time last year, he was wearing a Vanderbilt uniform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI put a lot into him personally,\u201d said Byington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cThis probably will surprise people, but when you put a lot into somebody, I\u2019m cheering for him. I want him to be successful. He\u2019s at a different school right now. That\u2019s the path he\u2019s chosen. Years from now, hopefully he\u2019s a great father and person, and hopefully, I was a big part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Vols and Commodores tip it off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2025 WSMV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) &#8211; Vanderbilt returns home on Saturday to face a Tennessee squad who\u2019s won seven of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[6030,7,4230,6,326,9,526,394,2411,527,2286,12821],"class_list":{"0":"post-765699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nashville","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sec","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tennessee","15":"tag-tennessee-titans","16":"tag-tennesseetitans","17":"tag-titans","18":"tag-vanderbilt","19":"tag-wsmv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116105904708062090","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}