NEW YORK—The Southeastern Conference needs to find another pushover.

Vanderbilt, for years the weakest team in college football’s toughest league, moved into the AP Top 25 on Sunday for the first time in 24 years.

The unbeaten Commodores are No. 21 in the latest rankings.

“I think it’s a pretty good reward for a good start,” Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said Sunday in a telephone interview. “Our guys are pretty smart. They realize it won’t help you win games.

“They’re already a pretty confident bunch. They’re going to go into games thinking the...

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