Jay Bilas picks winner for Vanderbilt-McNeese State first-round NCAA Tournament game
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Jay Bilas has made his pick for every NCAA Tournament game. That includes Vanderbilt‘s first NCAA appearance since 2017, as the fifth-seeded Commodores face 12-seed McNeese State in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Vandy was a one-and-done in 2017. As a 9 seed, it suffered a heartbreaking 68-66 loss to eighth-seeded Northwestern. In fact, the Commodores haven’t won in the Big Dance since 2012, going 0 for their last three. The farthest the program has gotten is an Elite Eight appearance, but that was all the way back in 1965.
Is a magical run in store for Vandy? It’ll need to first take down McNeese, who’s no stranger to causing upsets. In fact, the Cowboys took down a fifth-seeded Clemson team in the 2025 tournament.
That won’t happen this time, Bilas predicted.
This 5 vs. 12 matchup is always a trendy upset pick — and then-No. 12 McNeese beat Clemson last year. But in this case, Vanderbilt’s guards, Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles, are too good for a Cowboys upset. Take Vandy.
Vanderbilt advanced to Sunday’s SEC Championship Game as it sought its first conference crown since 2012. Instead, Arkansas came away with an 86-75 win for its first SEC title since 2000.
Should Vanderbilt/McNeese end up being chalk, the Commodores will face the winner of the 5/12 matchup between Nebraska and Troy. Kalshi currently gives the Commodores an 85% chance of victory.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
