Where Vanderbilt women's basketball stands in preseason polls

Vanderbilt women’s basketball will start the 2026-27 season ranked No. 9 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

The Commodores were one of the biggest surprises of the 2025-26 season, advancing to the Sweet 16 thanks to Mikayla Blakes, the SEC Player of the Year and national leading scorer, along with SEC Freshman of the Year Aubrey Galvan.

Vanderbilt has Blakes and Galvan back and has added on 5-star recruit Olivia Jones, 4-star recruit Jhai Johnson and transfers Mia Woolfolk and Vernell Atamah.

Shea Ralph was also named National Coach of the Year by several organizations after the team’s performance in the 2025-26 school year.

The Commodores finished 29-5 in 2025-26 and were tied for second in the SEC. They were picked in a tie for third in the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason poll while Blakes was named the SEC Preseason Player of the Year.

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1. South Carolina

2. UConn

3. Southern Cal

4. Duke

5. Michigan

6. Texas

7. Louisville

8. LSU

9. Vanderbilt

10. Iowa

11. North Carolina

12. UCLA

13. Notre Dame

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14. Kentucky

15. Washington

16. TCU

17. Maryland

18. Minnesota

19. Oklahoma State

20. Ohio State

21. Oklahoma

22. Illinois

23. Ole Miss

24. West Virginia

25. NC State

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 women’s basketball stands in preseason polls