Power ranking the SEC in 2025 preseason: #13 - Vanderbilt
Though ranked right next to Arkansas in these power ratings, I have Vandy as quite a step up from where the Hogs are right now. Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers coming back has a lot of college football fans seeing replays of the program-defining win over Alabama in their heads, and for good reason— these two form a deadly duo the likes of which has rarely been seen in Nashville.
Pavia himself has been on a media tour pumping up the Commodores, which shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with his personality. Whether he can recapture the magic of last season is a pressing question, but there's no doubt that he's become a household name for college football fans over the last year, even for reasons outside of the football field.
Stowers is a projected first-round selection for a reason. He, along with Junior Sherril and Sedrick Alexander, are back for another year in the receiving corps in Nashville. There's a decent amount of experience returning on the defensive end as well, which is an exciting prospect for Commodores fans.
The only issue is that Vandy's win total last year, while earned, may have outstripped the team's actual quality relative to their schedule. They overachieved, in other words, meaning that they could actually be a better team this upcoming year but not reach near the same heights as 2024.
The great thing about college football is that you will always have that 2024 season, but you're much less likely to take down Alabama in Bryant-Denny than a on a sleepy afternoon in Nashville. If they can repeat last year's heights, I'll take a seat, but I'm a little skeptical about Vandy getting back to seven wins.