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Vanderbilt Baseball Picked to Finish 2nd in SEC Behind Florida

Somehow, the Commodores didn't place a single player on the All-SEC First Team.

By Christian D'Andrea
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Florida, the nation's consensus No. 1 team, is also the SEC Coaches' pick for conference champion in 2016. The Gators earned 13 of the league's 14 votes to take both the overall title and the SEC East. Vanderbilt, a program that will break in an entirely new weekend rotation this spring, was the only other team to receive a first-place vote.

Two Commodores also earned second-team All-SEC honors - a surprisingly low figure given that Vandy placed four players, Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Wright, Ben Bowden, and Jeren Kendall, on the Louisville Slugger preseason All-American team. Reynolds and third baseman Will Toffey picked up the all league honors while Wright, Bowden, and Kendall were left off the ballot.

Here's how the league's coaches predict the 2016 season will shake out, courtesy of SECSports.com:

EASTERN DIVISION
Rank Team (First Place Votes) Votes
1. Florida (13) 91
2. Vanderbilt (1) 78
3. South Carolina 54
4. Kentucky 53
5. Missouri 47
6. Georgia 32
7. Tennessee 30
Western Division
1. Texas A&M (8) 85
2. LSU (5) 79
3. Arkansas 65
4. Mississippi State (1) 49
5. Ole Miss 46
6. Auburn 33
7. Alabama 28

SEC Champion: Florida (13); Vanderbilt (1)

And here are the coaches' All-Conference picks, which somehow don't feature a single Commodore pitcher.

2016 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC First Team

POSITION NAME SCHOOL
C J.J. Schwarz Florida
1B Peter Alonso Florida
2B Ryne Birk Texas A&M
SS Ryan Howard Missouri
3B Nick Senzel Tennessee
OF Nick Banks Texas A&M
OF Buddy Reed Florida
OF Anfernee Grier Auburn
DH/UT J.J. Schwarz Florida
SP Alex Lange LSU
SP A.J. Puk* Florida
SP Logan Shore* Florida
RP Zach Jackson Arkansas

2016 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Second Team

POSITION NAME SCHOOL
C Mike Rivera Florida
1B Evan White* Kentucky
1B Hunter Melton* Texas A&M
2B Rick Nomura Arkansas
SS Errol Robinson Ole Miss
3B Will Toffey Vanderbilt
OF Bryan Reynolds Vanderbilt
OF Stephen Wrenn Georgia
OF Jake Fraley LSU
DH/UT Clark Eagan Arkansas
SP Tanner Houck Missouri
SP Robert Tyler* Georgia
SP Jared Poche'* LSU
RP Ryan Hendrix Texas A&M

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