Mississippi State and Ole Miss in fifth-place tie in the West in SEC media's yearly predictions
If Southeastern Conference media members are correct, it's going to be a tight battle in the SEC Western Division to see who can finish the highest between instate rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
The league released the annual preseason media predictions on Wednesday and the Bulldogs and Rebels were projected in a fifth-place tie in the West. Alabama was the runaway favorite to win the SEC West with 86 first-place votes. Coming in behind the Crimson Tide was LSU, with eight first-place votes, then Auburn, then Texas A&M with two first-place votes, then the Mississippi schools followed by Arkansas.
In the Eastern Division, former MSU head coach Dan Mullen's Florida Gators were the predicted winner with 53 first-place votes. That was 10 more than Georgia, who was predicted to finish second. Georgia was followed by Tennessee at third, Kentucky at fourth, South Carolina at fifth, Missouri at sixth and Vanderbilt at seventh.
As for the overall league champion, Alabama easily was the favorite to win the SEC with 77 first-place votes, followed by Georgia and LSU with seven first-place votes each, then Florida with five.
Also, a pair of Mississippi State stars were selected to the preseason All-SEC squads. Bulldog running back Kylin was chosen to the First Team while Erroll Thompson was tabbed as a Third Team linebacker.
Here is the full poll, along with the All-SEC teams:
SEC PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
First place votes in parenthesis, followed by point totals based on votes
EASTERN DIVISION
1. Florida (53) - 624
2. Georgia (43) - 613
3. Tennessee - 434
4. Kentucky - 405
5. South Carolina - 287
6. Missouri - 224
7. Vanderbilt - 101
WESTERN DIVISION
1. Alabama (86) - 660
2. LSU (8) - 489
3. Auburn - 488
4. Texas A&M (2) - 454
T5. Ole Miss - 238
T5. Mississippi State - 238
7. Arkansas - 121
SEC CHAMPION
1. Alabama - 77
T2. Georgia - 7
T2.LSU - 7
4.Florida - 5
2020 PRESEASON MEDIA DAYS ALL-SEC TEAM
OFFENSE
First-Team
QB - Kyle Trask, Florida
RB - Najee Harris, Alabama
RB - Kylin Hill, Mississippi State
WR - DeVonta Smith, Alabama
WR - Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
TE - Kyle Pitts, Florida
OL - Alex Leatherwood, Alabama
OL - Trey Smith, Tennessee
OL - Landon Dickerson, Alabama
OL - Landon Young, Kentucky
C - Drake Jackson, Kentucky
Second-Team
QB - Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
RB - Rakeem Boyd, Arkansas
RB - Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M
WR - George Pickens, Georgia
WR - Terrace Marshall, LSU
TE - Jalen Wydermyer, Texas A&M
OL - Deonte Brown, Alabama
OL - Darian Kinnard, Kentucky
OL - Sadarius Hutcherson, South Carolina
OL - Ed Ingram, LSU
C - Trey Hill, Georgia
Third-Team
QB - Mac Jones, Alabama
RB - Zamir White, Georgia
RB - Larry Rountree, Missouri
WR - Seth Williams, Auburn
WR - Elijah Moore, Ole Miss
TE - Arik Gilbert, LSU
OL - Austin Deculus, LSU
OL - Brodarious Hamm, Auburn
OL - Evan Neal, Alabama
OL - Wanya Morris, Tennessee
C - Landon Dickerson, Alabama
DEFENSE
First-Team
DL - Big Kat Bryant, Auburn
DL - LaBryan Ray, Alabama
DL - Jordan Davis, Georgia
DL - Malik Herring, Georgia
LB - Dylan Moses, Alabama
LB - K.J. Britt, Auburn
LB - Nick Bolton, Missouri
DB - Patrick Surtain II, Alabama
DB - Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
DB - Richard LeCounte, Georgia
DB - Jacoby Stevens, LSU
Second-Team
DL - Bobby Brown, Texas A&M
DL - Dayo Odeyingbo, Vanderbilt
DL - Kobie Whiteside, Missouri
DL - Zachary Carter, Florida
LB - Henry To'o To'o, Tennessee
LB - Monty Rice, Georgia
LB - Jabril Cox, LSU
DB - Kaiir Elam, Florida
DB - Eric Stokes, Georgia
DB - Marco Wilson, Florida
DB - Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina
Third-Team
DL - Aaron Sterling, South Carolina
DL - Glen Logan, LSU
DL - Josh Paschal, Kentucky
DL - DJ Dale, Alabama
LB - Ventrell Miller, Florida
LB - Erroll Thompson, Mississippi State
LB - Boogie Watson, Kentucky
DB - Demani Richardson, Texas A&M
DB - Smoke Monday, Auburn
DB - Tyree Gillespie, Missouri
DB - Christian Tutt, Auburn*
DB - Bryce Thompson, Tennessee*
SPECIALISTS
First-Team
P - Max Duffy, Kentucky
PK - Brent Cimaglia, Tennessee
RS - Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
AP - Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
Second-Team
P - Jake Camarda, Georgia
PK - Cade York, LSU
RS - Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
AP - Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
Third-Team
P - Zach Von Rosenberg, LSU
PK - Anders Carlson, Auburn
RS - Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
AP - Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
* - Indicates a tie
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