The next five games will make or break Vanderbilt’s basketball season

In the 2017-18 season, Vanderbilt is 5-0 against teams outside the KenPom top 100, and 0-8 against teams in the top 100.

If that pattern continues, Vanderbilt will end the regular season with a 5-26 record. That’s a bit of hyperbole, but there aren’t any teams ranked outside the top 100 remaining on the schedule. Every last SEC team — and TCU, whom Vanderbilt will play in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge later this month — is ranked in the top 100. Unlike years past, there aren’t any truly awful teams in the basement of the SEC.

Obviously, when you’re 5-8 on the season, every game matters. Or it doesn’t matter. But the upcoming five-game stretch will likely determine the trajectory of the rest of the…