It’s that time of the year, folks! SEC Basketball Media day is upon us and with that comes with the preseason media poll. Here is how all the voting members see the SEC shaking out.
1. Kentucky
2. Tennessee
3. Auburn
4. Mississippi State
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Alabama
8. Vanderbilt
9. Missouri
10. Arkansas
11. South Carolina
12. Texas A&M
13. Georgia
14. Ole Miss
This ended up pretty much as I expected, with Kentucky getting their requisite first place finish votes they’ll always get (and in all fairness, I think this roster is the best they’ve had in a few seasons) and Tennessee coming in shortly behind with a roster that returns all their key pieces from a surprisingly dominant team last year. Auburn, now with the talented players that sat out due to the FBI investigation back, understandably has people and it looks like media members finally think this is the year for Mississippi State to take the leap.
Then, of course, we have Florida at 5. The fifth place finish is always an interesting one in these polls as it shows measured optimism, but not quite enough to put them right at the top tier. With the SEC being so dominant this season, if the Gators did finish fifth it would likely give them a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Looking at the rest of the rankings, excitement over Tremont Waters and a talented group of freshmen has LSU at 6th, though if you’re keeping track of the FBI trials currently going on in New York you’ll know Will Wade got exposed in yesterday’s hearings and could be in some serious hot water. Whether that affects anything that happens this year, we’ll see.
At the bottom of the poll you have the two teams that made major coaching hires this past offseason in Georgia with Tom Crean and then Ole Miss with Kermit Davis. I can understand putting those teams at the bottom with their returning rosters but I could see the fresh coaching staffs getting these teams up higher in the rankings.
The media members also voted on First Team All-SEC, Second Team All-SEC, and SEC Player of the year. Here is how those votes ended up. They didn’t break any ties and that’s while you’ll see 7 names on the Second Team.
First Team All-SEC
Daniel Gafford – Arkansas
Reid Travis – Kentucky
Tremont Waters – LSU
Chris Silva –-South Carolina
Grant Williams – Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
Bryce Brown – Auburn
Jared Harper – Auburn
Jalen Hudson – Florida
PJ Washington – Kentucky
Quinndary Weatherspoon – Mississippi State
Jontay Porter – Missouri
Admiral Schofield – Tennessee
SEC Player of the Year
Grant Williams – Tennessee
No big surprises for me on the first team, and it’s nice to see Jalen Hudson on the second team. With the way I think he’ll score the ball this year I definitely think he could be in conversation for the first team but even if he levels out at what he was last year he’s still going to be a second team guy in my opinion. The Volunteers’ Grant Williams looks to repeat as SEC player of the year which is probably a safe pick and one I understand. Though they didn’t say how many votes were received by other players, Jalen Hudson did receive some votes for player of the year alongside Bryce Brown, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington, Tremont Waters, Quinndary Weatherspoon, Chris Silva, and Admiral Schofield.
With only a little bit of optimism for the Gators going into the season they’re in a great spot where expectations don’t seem to be too high for them but they’re respected enough that they aren’t being overlooked.
Me and Bailiegh will have plenty more coming from SEC Media Day!