The Vanderbilt Commodores open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday with a game against the Northwestern Wildcats. You might not have heard about this, but this will be Northwestern’s first NCAA Tournament game ever. And unlike some teams that haven’t made the NCAA Tournament before (like, say, Northern Kentucky, which is in its first year of being eligible for the Division I tournament), Northwestern has been trying for a very long time. Like, they were a founding member of the Big Ten back in 1896. That’s a long damn time! Hell, since Vanderbilt’s first tournament appearance in 1965, the Commodores have never gone more than 14 years between tournament appearances.
Five Questions with Zach Pereles of InsideNU
