Football season is almost upon us. With the calendar about to turn from July to August, preseason predictions are in full swing. Coming off SEC Media Days, the big narrative was whether or not LSU is the new favorites in the SEC West after winning it in Brian Kelly’s first season and Alabama seemingly on the downswing, especially at the QB position.
After all was said and done and media predictions were tallied, the consensus was still Alabama in the West, but it was much closer than it has been in some time. Georgia was also predicted to defeat Alabama in the SEC Championship. Here is the order the media predicted both the SEC West and East as well as the first team All-SEC group:
SEC West:
Alabama
LSU
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Arkansas
Auburn
Mississipi State
SEC East:
Georgia
Tennessee
South Carolina
Kentucky
Florida
Missouri
Vanderbilt
All-SEC First Team Offense:
QB: Jayden Daniels, LSU
RB: Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss
RB: Raheim Sanders, Arkansas
WR: Malik Nabers, LSU
WR: Ladd McConkey, Georgia
TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia
OL: JC Latham, Alabama
OL: Amarius Mims, Georgia
OL: Tate Ratledge, Georgia
OL: Will Campbell, LSU
OL: Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia
All-SEC First Team Defense:
DL: Mekhi Wingo, LSU
DL: Mykel Williams, Georgia
DL: Maason Smith, LSU
DL: Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia
LB: Dallas Turner, Alabama
LB: Harold Perkins, LSU
LB: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia
DB: Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama
DB: Malaki Starks, Georgia
DB: Kamari Lassiter, Georgia
DB: Javon Bullard, Georgia
All-SEC First Team Special Teams:
P: Kai Kroeger, South Carolina
PK: Will Reichard, Alabama
LS: Kneeland Hibbett, Alabama
KS: Brian Battie, Auburn
RS: Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama
AP: Ainias Smith, Texas A&M
Among those recognized in the second and third teams included Tennessee QB Joe Milton III (third team), Alabama RB Jase McClellan (second team), Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter (third team), and Auburn DB D.J. James (third team). The season is less than a month away, and we will monitor throughout the year just how accurate the media’s predictions prove to be.
