Today is the final day of SEC Media Week, which means it is time to crown a preseason favorite from each division. The media assembled in Hoover, Alabama have crowned Alabama as the SEC favorite this season. South Carolina was tabbed the preseason favorite in the SEC East by the media as well.
Alabama received 154 points from the media as the overall conference favorite. Defending SEC champion Auburn received the second most votes with 75. SEC East favorite South Carolina took 32 votes, followed by Georgia (19) and LSU (nine). Ole Miss (two), Arkansas (one) and Mississippi State (one) each received a vote to win the SEC this season as well. Defending SEC East champion Missouri did not receive any championship votes.
The SEC looks to be a pretty wide-open conference this fall, at least more so compared to past seasons. Alabama running away with the votes is a testament to the recruiting efforts of the Crimson Tide coaching staff over the years. It may be somewhat surprising to see a team filling in a number of holes be such a favorite in the conference, but Nick Saban and his staff have done well to reload time and time again.
On another note, it is interesting to see such a predicted drop by Texas A&M in the post-Johnny Manziel era. The Aggies are picked to finish sixth in the SEC West.
Here is how the divisions have been predicted by the media (courtesy of TideSports.com);
SEC East
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Missouri
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
SEC West
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Texas A&M
Arkansas