The Commodores, members of the Southeastern Conference, were coached by Kevin Stallings, and celebrated their 60th season in their current home arena, Memorial Gymnasium.

This continued a recent history of tournament disappointments for Vanderbilt, whose last three NCAA appearances had all ended with a first-game loss to a double-digit seed.

[3] Rice was replaced by David Cason, a former player under Stallings at Illinois State who had spent the previous six seasons as an assistant with Tulsa.

[4] Sources: In a major offseason development, three of the Commodores' most important players—Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins, and Jeffery Taylor—all spurned the NBA draft and announced they would return for the 2011–12 season.

[11] Less than a month before the start of the season, the NCAA suspended Ezeli 6 games after accepting a meal and hotel room from a Vanderbilt alumnus during a summer trip.