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The SEC Preseason poll has come out this Morning and the Hogs are picked to finish sixth in the conference. Kentucky and Florida took their usual spots at one and two in the conference. After that there is a big bunch of teams that will be extremely even and competitive this season.
Texas A&M was third, and they return one of three players tied for SEC Preseason Player of the Year in Robert Williams. Alabama and Missouri were picked fourth and fifth. They may come as a surprise to some but each team has brought in top recruiting classes. Alabama has Collin Sexton to pair with Davon Ingram now, and Missouri has a new staff and a top-5 recruiting class led by Michael Porter Jr. Porter Jr. and Georgia’s Yante Maten were the other two tied for preseason player of the year.
Arkansas came in sixth ahead of Vanderbilt and Georgia. They didn’t have any players named to All-SEC teams. While sixth place really isn’t a huge surprise, not getting Daryl Macon on a preseason list was a bit of a surprise. I expected him to land on the second team to start.
And before you start screaming that Arkansas was disrespected, this spot in the poll is probably about right. Spots 3-8 in the SEC are going to be extremely competitive this year and the league as a whole will be significantly deeper. Last year the SEC had 5 teams make the NCAA Tournament and getting six feels very reasonable this year.
Mike Anderson has gotten his team to finish above their preseason prediction each of the last four seasons. If he does that for a fifth year and second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance is very likely.
SEC Preseason Media Poll
- Kentucky
- Florida
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Arkansas
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia
- Auburn
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Mississippi State
- Tennessee
- LSU