SEC Football: Predicting the 2023 SEC standings and final rankings
By Kevin Miller
2023 SEC Football Standings No. 14 (and 7th in the SEC East):
Vanderbilt Commodores
Most would have expected Vandy to be pulling up the rear in just about any SEC football standings projections. However, this Vanderbilt team is not the same as some of their hapless predecessors.
No one should believe that the ‘Dores are on the verge of true contention in the world of SEC football, but Clark Lea’s bunch shouldn’t be as much of a pushover as in years past.
Vandy finished the 2022 season on a relatively high note. Before an embarrassingly lopsided loss to the rival Tennessee Volunteers to end the year, the Commodores played their best four games of the SEC schedule in the four previous games.
Missouri and South Carolina both almost dropped their games to Vandy, and the Florida Gators and Kentucky Wildcats could not escape the sting that comes along with losing to Vanderbilt as Lea led his squad to their first time winning back-to-back conference games since 2018.
The 2023 ‘Dores should be a little better. AJ Swann showed some promise as a freshman last year, and his top-2 receivers (Will Sheppard and Jayden McGowan) return after combining for over 100 catches, 1200 yards, and 12 touchdowns in 2022.
On defense, Vanderbilt was bad last fall, but they return the majority of their starters from a season ago, so improvement seems a virtual guarantee.
A light out-of-conference schedule seems destined for a 3-1 or 4-0 start to the year, and two of the ‘Dores most-winnable SEC games (at home against Kentucky and Missouri) immediately follow and give Vandy the possibility of a winning record early in the season.
Will Vanderbilt be good this season? No. Could they be just good enough to cause problems and potentially squeak into a bowl game? Possibly.
PREDICTION
Overall: 4-8; SEC Football: 1-7
Hawaii (W), Alabama A&M (W), @Wake Forest (L), @UNLV (W), Kentucky (L), Missouri (W), @Florida (L), Georgia (L), @Ole Miss (L), Auburn (L), @South Carolina (L), @Tennessee (L)