On Tuesday the SEC released their preseason media poll, a chance to see where people see the league stacking up as we’re set to enter non-conference play in only a few weeks.
From the release: “Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.”
Here is how the team voting shook out:
1. Tennessee
2. Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Mississippi State
- Florida
- Missouri
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia
- LSU
- South Carolina
Florida’s 8th place finish in the poll mirrors much of what we’re seeing from a prediction standpoint with nearly every media member and algorithmically generated ranking having the Gators somewhere between 7th and 9th. It appears the voting pool has a “wait and see” approach to Florida’s roster that is largely built of transfers, an understandable approach. If things do go chalk and the Gators find themselves finishing 8th in the league they should be right on the NCAA Tournament bubble, as the SEC should be extremely strong this year and at least 8 teams should be making the field.
In addition to the projected finish, media members also voted on first and second All-SEC teams.
The first team:
Wade Taylor (Texas A&M)
Trevon Brazille (Arkansas)
Grant Nelson (Alabama)
Johni Broome (Auburn)
Justin Edwards (Kentucky)
Tolu Smith (Mississippi State)
Santiago Vescovi (Tennessee)
In addition to finding himself on the preseason first team All-SEC, Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor was picked as the preseason player of the year.
The second team:
Mark Sears (Alabama)
Davonte Davis (Arkansas)
Riley Kugel (Florida)
Antonio Reeves (Kentucky)
Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee)
Kugel was thought to be in the mix for first-team honors but will happily take a spot on the second team. His final two weeks of the regular season put him not only on the SEC radar but the national radar, and many media members see him as someone who could break out in a massive way.
Overall, it was somewhat of a measured day for Florida who sees themselves with a projected middle of the pack finish and with a second-team distinction for a key player. They won’t be going into the season with massive hype, and will happily look to exceed expectations.