Vanderbilt men's basketball has been ranked No. 21 in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
The Commodores finished 2025-26 ranked No. 17.
Vanderbilt returns star guard Tyler Tanner, a first team All-SEC selection a year ago who withdrew from the NBA draft. But the rest of the roster is almost entirely new, with just two other returning players: Chandler Bing and Jayden Leverett.
Among the new transfers are Auburn transfer Sebastian Williams-Adams, Colorado transfer Bangot Dak and Washington State transfer Ace Glass, as well as freshman Gabe Nesmith, who reclassified into the 2026 class.
The roster is much more frontcourt-oriented than a year ago, projecting as a defensive team that won't make a ton of 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt is ranked below five
other SEC teams in the Coaches Poll, which matches expectations with the preseason media poll in which the Commodores were picked to finish sixth in the league.
Preseason rankings on analytics sites varies. Vanderbilt is as high as 13th on KenPom but 23rd on Torvik and 33rd on Evan Miya.
Vanderbilt basketball ranking in preseason Coaches Poll
- Florida
- Duke
- Illinois
- Arizona
- UConn
- Michigan State
- Texas
- Houston
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Gonzaga
- Arkansas
- St. John's
- Iowa State
- Texas Tech
- Miami
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Vanderbilt
- Southern Cal
- Kentucky
- Purdue
- BYU
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Where Vanderbilt men's basketball ranks in preseason coaches poll
