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SEC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL:
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Mississippi State
- Florida
- Missouri
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia
- LSU
- South Carolina
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SEC 1ST TEAM:
-Grant Nelson, SR, F – Alabama
-Trevon Brazile – SO, F – Arkansas
-Johni Broome – JR, F – Auburn
-Justin Edwards – FR, G – Kentucky
-Tolu Smith – SR, F – Mississippi State
-Santiago Vescovi – SR, G – Tennessee
-Wade Taylor IV – JR, G – Texas A&M (SEC Preseason Player of the Year)
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SEC 2ND TEAM:
-Mark Sears – SR, G – Alabama
-Davonte Davis – SR, G – Arkansas
-Riley Kugel – SO, G – Florida
-Antonio Reeves – SR, G – Kentucky
-Zakai Zeigler – JR, G – Tennessee
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-Since the arrival of Coach Rick Barnes Tennessee’s program has been remarkable. They won 27 games two years ago, 25 last year, and seem poised to be a Final Four-caliber team again this year. If there is an area where they have come up short it is in the NCAA Tournament. While they have fielded multiple Final Four-caliber teams over the years, they have never actually reached one. In fact, since becoming a program that is regularly nationally-relevant in roughly 2005-2006, they have advanced beyond the Sweet Sixteen just once, which is not bad, but for a program that is routinely ranked in the top-ten you would expect them to do better than that. Their top three starters are back from last year, and they add to it an incredibly strong recruiting class and a notable transfer in Jordan Gainey who was a standout player at USC Upstate a year ago. They are picked to win the SEC, they are certainly good enough to do that, and I think that they (again) have the makings of a potential Final Four team.
-I am super excited about Uncle Buzz and his Texas A&M team this year! I know they are getting a lot of respect and are starting off ranked in both the major preseason polls, but as much love as they are getting I still think they can be even better. In fact, I think they can win the SEC! They nearly won it last year, and four starters are back including Wade Taylor IV, who is the SEC Preseason Player of the Year and an NBA-caliber talent. Two other double digit scorers are also back, and while they may not be the deepest team they have enough guys on their bench to give them quality minutes when they need them. I am all in on the Aggies this year: I think they can end up with a protected seed and they can win this league!
-Last year, Arkansas entered the season with a super-talented roster, and while they had a good year overall they were just 8-10 in the conference and sort of fell short of expectations. They did make the NCAA Tournament and advance to the Sweet Sixteen, so they did become good at the right time. This year, preseason expectations are once again extremely high as they will begin the year ranked 14th in both the major polls. Just two starters are back but they have a lot of talent and experience coming in via the portal, particularly Khalif Battle from Temple, who averaged just under 18ppg a season ago. It may take the Razorbacks a little time to gel but once they do this is going to be a dangerous team.
-Two years ago I was not all that big on Kentucky coming into the year, and while they were upset in the Round of 64 by Saint Peter’s they had a fantastic season prior to that and won a lot of big games on the road. Last year they returned everyone from a team that had looked so good so often the year before. They were my preseason pick to win it all! And…well…they did not. They were good but not Final Four-good, and really not even legit-protected-seed-good. This year, Kentucky has a roster stacked with talent but that is also really young. Whereas most top programs now prefer to recruit proven and experienced players out of the portal, Kentucky is still looking to sign a lot of super-talented freshmen. With that approach comes a lot of uncertainty. We have seen Kentucky go to Final Fours with this approach…and we have also seen them fall way short of expectations. Antonio Reeves returns to the roster and his experience is probably very important to the chemistry of this team. He is a likely starter this year (although he came off the bench for most of last season), and will be out there with four super-talented freshmen who will likely all soon be in the NBA.
-Last year Alabama had their best season that I can ever remember and they entered the NCAA Tournament as legit national title contenders. Off the court they were less than spectacular, but on the court they were phenomenal. Nate Oats is an outstanding coach, and while they do lose three key starters including Brandon Miller, who was among the best players in the nation, I still like the pieces they have coming back this year and I once again think they will be a team that can earn a protected seed. Mark Sears is back and Aaron Estrada has transferred in after having an outstanding year at Hofstra. Grant Nelson, who was an outstanding big man at North Dakota State, also joins the roster. I know a lot of people probably dismiss players from Hofstra/North Dakota State as not being SEC-caliber players, but in the case of these two…they absolutely are! This is a VERY good Alabama team! Maybe not as good as last year, but still very good.
-People who work on and follow the site think I have some vendetta against Auburn: I do not. Most years, including both last year and even their Final Four year, I am quick to point out that they were not a good road team. And…well…they were not! They were just 4-8 in true road games a year ago and lost to teams like West Virginia/Georgia/Vanderbilt who were nowhere near the NCAA Tournament. Now, it may surprise everyone to learn that I actually do like Auburn coming into this year and think they can be a bit of a surprise team. Johni Broome is one of the best big men in the conference who can score/rebound/defend. He and Jaylin Williams make up a very solid frontcourt. They will likely once again be a pressure team, and while they are not quite as experienced in the backcourt they do have an experienced player n KD Johnson who can effectively run things.
-Mississippi State is not getting nearly as much love as I thought they would be or should be. While they just barely squeaked into the NCAA Tournament a year ago after going just 8-10 in conference play, all five starters are back, and this was a team that finished the season winning nine out of twelve before getting drilled by Alabama in the conference tournament. Chris Jans is also a very proven coach and he has shown the ability to develop not just the starting 5, but the bench as well. Not only do I think Mississippi State could be an NCAA Tournament team this yar. I think they can be a top-25 team.
-Florida is a bit of a question mark this year and Coach Todd Golden’s seat may be starting to feel a little warm. Only two starters are back from a year ago but both are really solid players who can score from the outside (Will Richard/Riley Kugel). The Gators also hit the portal and have Tyrese Samuel coming in from Seton Hall, EJ Jarvis from Yale, and Walter Clayton Jr. from Iona, all of whom were double-digit scorers. Golden has done a good job building an impressive roster: now they just have to win some games! I am not going to go so far as to guarantee that they will make the NCAA Tournament, but if you are asking me what I think their chances are I would say over 50%.
-Missouri had their best season in quite some time last year, winning 25 games and making it to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. They have a major rebuilding job ahead of them with just two starters back, and Dennis Gates is relying on some incoming transfers to step up and contribute. I do not think Mizzou will be as good as they were a year ago, but I do think the program is moving in the right direction and they will be much better than they were two and three years ago.
-The Chris Beard era begins at Ole Miss! Beard has won everywhere he has been, and after being forced out of Texas for off-court issues I will not get into, he is faced with perhaps his toughest rebuilding job yet. Ole Miss won just three SEC games a year ago and has not had a 20+ win season in four years. Just two starters are back but both were double-digit scorers, and Brandon Murray transferring in from Georgetown also gives them some much needed experience. Beard can win and I do think he will win at Ole Miss. I just do not think he is going to win a whole lot this first year.
-Jerry Stackhouse, after being the butt of a lot of our jokes, has actually done an outstanding job at Vanderbilt. They won 19 games two years ago and 22 last year. Their biggest problem has been keeping guys there. They were 11-7 in a very tough SEC a year ago, and while three starters are back and they do appear to have a very strong backcourt, they also have five new freshmen on the roster. I like what Stack has done and was really impressed with how much they improved throughout last season, but when I look at them this year it just looks like a building year.
-Mike White is a really good coach and he should be able to win at Georgia, but the Dawgs went just 16-16 a year ago and are in a bit of a rebuild mode with just one starter returning. Still, it was a big improvement from the year before, and they do have some good looking transfers coming in to fill out the roster, but while I think Georgia is heading in the right direction I do not think they are quite there yet.
-Matt McMahon begins his second year at LSU as the program tries to rebuild itself. Expectations are not exactly high this year. Two starters are back and they add Carlos Stewart to the roster, who transferred in after a great year at Santa Clara, but this probably is not the year we see LSU in the mix for an NCAA/NIT bid.
-South Carolina had a rough year last year where they won just 11 games and they could be in for another long year this year. The expectations are not high and their run to the 2017 Final Four now seems like it was a lifetime ago.