Reigning national champion Alabama was predicted to win the conference title once again by the media at SEC Media Days.
The Crimson Tide was selected by a wide margin, receiving 223 votes to win the conference, compared to LSU’s 59 and Tennessee’s 29.
“Our team has had a very good offseason,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I've been very pleased with the progress that we made. We obviously lost some really, really good players from last year's championship team, good leadership, good people. Great team chemistry. All things that are intangibles that are difficult to build, and our challenge is to recognize as they develop, because those things just don't happen overnight. You know, it's a work in progress. And it's certainly been the case with our team this year.”
Alabama edged LSU with 246 first-place votes to 76 in the Western Division predictions. Tennessee was picked to win the Eastern Division with 225 first-place votes to Florida’s 57.
“You want those expectations,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “I think it's a compliment to everyone in our program of how far we've come. It's not where you start, it's where you finish. But I think it is a compliment in how we've grown and developed this football program.”
An all-time high 331 media members participated in this year’s vote. Alabama was picked to win the SEC last year, but Auburn was picked to win the Western Division.
This year, Auburn received zero first-place votes.
The media has predicted the SEC Champion just five times since 1992.
Points were awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale. The preseason All-SEC Team will be announced Friday.
“I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, because I heard yesterday that, in all of the years of the Southeastern Conference, that the team that they picked to be the champion, we've only been right five times,” Jones said. “So, we have to control -- we can control, and that's working to be a better football team and football program every day.”
EASTERN DIVISION (1st Place votes)
Tennessee (225) – 2167 points
Florida (57) – 1,891
Georgia (45) – 1,860
Kentucky – 933
Vanderbilt (2) – 810
Missouri – 807
South Carolina (2) – 800
WESTERN DIVISON (1st Place votes)
Alabama (246) – 2,220 points
LSU (76) – 1,984
Ole Miss (5) – 1,479
Texas A&M (3) – 1,130
Arkansas (1) – 1,047
Auburn – 890
Mississippi State – 518
SEC CHAMPION
Alabama – 223 points
LSU – 59
Tennessee – 29
Georgia – 7
Florida – 5
Ole Miss – 4
Texas A&M – 1
South Carolina – 1
Vanderbilt – 1
Arkansas – 1
