This is July, so everybody’s undefeated, everybody’s happy, everybody’s pumped up about the upcoming SEC season.

Even Vanderbilt.

Despite losing seven of eight league games last season, despite not
having a winning record or playing in a bowl game since 1982, the
Commodores arrived at SEC Media Days on Thursday sporting a noticeable
swagger.

Yes, Vanderbilt.

Wide receiver Earl Bennett and linebacker Jonathan Goff were looking and sounding like winners, not perennial losers. They sounded like Gators or Tigers or Bulldogs (the Georgia variety) or Vols.

The goal this season, they said, isn’t just to have a winning season and maybe sneak into the Liberty Bowl or the hometown Music City Bowl. It’s to play in a BCS bowl.

Yes, Vanderbilt.

Obviously, it’s an unrealistic goal. But, hey, it’s Media Days in Hoover, Ala., and everybody’s feeling good about themselves. (The ‘Dores, by the way, were expressing excitement about their opener, against Richmond).

Of course, if you’re Earl Bennett how could you feel like anything but a winner? Going into his junior season, he’s already considered one of Vandy’s all-time great players ” and one of the best and most productive receivers in SEC history.

Bennett is only 48 receptions shy of becoming the league’s all-time leader in catches. He’s the only receiver in league history to catch 75 passes in back-to-back seasons.

But Bennett says he doesn’t care about records and fame. He wants to go to a bowl game. A BCS bowl game.

Yes, with Vanderbilt.

It’s not going to happen, but, hey, it’s July and all dreams seem possible at SEC Media Days.