Vanderbilt Gets 5 1st-Place Votes in SEC Preseason CFB Poll; Predicted Last Overall

The Vanderbilt Commodores have never before won 10 games in a season. Some media members are predicting that will change in 2023.

In a preseason poll published Friday by the SEC, eight media members selected Vanderbilt football to win the 2023 SEC Eastern Division, and five voted for the Commodores to finish as SEC champions.

The majority of voters chose Vanderbilt to finish last in the division.

Georgia was the clear favorite, with 265 first-place votes to win the Eastern Division (2,011 total points) and 181 to win the conference. The SEC noted that only nine of the 31 champions predicted by this poll have gone on to win the conference title.

No Commodores made it onto the 2023 Preseason Media Days All-SEC Team.

After suffering the program's first winless season against all-SEC opponents in 2020, Vanderbilt has gone 7-17 (2-10, 5-7) in two campaigns under under coach Clark Lea.

During SEC media days in 2022, Lea told reporters that "in time Vanderbilt football will be the best program in the country."

The Commodores are at least step closer to that bold claim after encouraging 2022 campaigns from Vanderbilt players including quarterback AJ Swann, who finished with 1,274 passing yards; wide receiver Will Sheppard, who ranked fourth in SEC with 5.0 receptions per game; and linebacker CJ Taylor, who recorded 59 tackles, including 7.0 for loss, in 12 games.

Even if Vanderbilt is still widely expected to finish at the bottom of the SEC Eastern Division next season, Swann, Sheppard and Taylor's performances were enough to convince at least a few media members that the 2023 Commodores are on their way to their first SEC title.