Hogs are top pick in West

— Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey doesn't have to worry about establishing high expectationsin his first season.

The media has already taken care of thatfor him.

Arkansas was picked to win the SEC Western Division title in a preseason vote of regional and national media members. Tennessee was picked to win the Eastern Division and the overall SEC championship.

Arkansas received 18 firstplace votes and 168 points to finish ahead of Mississippi State, which had 10 first-place votes and 148 points. Alabama was picked third in the West with 111 points, followed by Auburn (94), LSU (63) and Ole Miss (46).

"That means nothing at all. That's a paper championship," Pelphrey said. "We're not concerned with what happens in the preseason. We're moreconcerned with how the season ends."

Tennessee received all 30 first-place votes for 180 points to earn the nod in the Eastern Division. Kentucky was second with 142 points, followed by defending national champion Florida (103), Vanderbilt (98), Georgia (69) and South Carolina (38).

Arkansas also had two players named to the preseason All-SEC team. Sophomore guard Patrick Beverley was chosen as a firstteam all-conference selection, while senior center Steven Hill was named to the second team.

Beverley was a second-team All-SEC player last year, when he was named SEC Freshman of the Year by league coaches,

Beverley ranked among league leaders in nine of 13 categories last season. He was 16th in scoring (13.9 points per game), 29th in rebounding (4.5), 15th in assists (3.14), sixth in steals (1.74), third in free-throw percentage (.812), eighth in three-point percentage (.386), 12th in threepoint goals per game (2.09), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.57) and fourth in minutes played (1,203).

Hill averaged 6.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots a game last season, when he was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.

Hill has ranked second in the league in blocked shots in each of his first three seasons. He is third on Arkansas' career list and 11th on the SEC's career chart with 244 blocks. Hill's .641 field-goal percentage last season also was the best for a Razorback with 100 or more attempts since Oliver Miller shot 70.4 percent in 1991.

"It's nice that people recognize Patrick and Steven as being good players," Pelphrey said. "It's a compliment to them, their hard work and the team's success last year."

Beverley and Hill are among Arkansas' five returning starters from last year's 21-14 team that reached the final of the SECTournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year. Arkansas was knocked out of the tournament in the first round, losing 77-60 to Southern Cal.

Tennessee went 24-11 last season and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The Vols return four starters, led by Chris Lofton, a 6-2 senior guard who was a unanimous preseason All-SEC selection and chosen the SEC preseason Player of the Year. Lofton averaged 20.8 points a game last season, when he was a consensus second-team All-American.

The SEC media voting panel consists of two media members selected by each SEC school and six additional national writers selected by conference officials.

Sports, Pages 23, 28 on 10/24/2007

Upcoming Events