Tide, Vols favorites in the SEC

HOOVER, Ala. -- Alabama, the defending College Football Playoff and SEC champion, was the runaway choice of voters at SEC media days to repeat as conference champion.

The Crimson Tide received 223 first-place votes, far ahead of the 59 for LSU and the 29 for Tennessee, which was a landslide pick to capture the SEC East.

The other first-place votes among the 331 ballots went to Georgia (7), Florida (5), Ole Miss (4), Arkansas (1), South Carolina (1), Texas A&M (1) and Vanderbilt (1).

The Razorbacks, coming off of a third-place finish in the SEC West with a 5-3 record, were picked to finish fifth in the division with 1,047 points, behind Alabama (2,220), LSU (1,984), Mississippi (1,479) and Texas A&M (1,130), and ahead of Auburn (890) and Mississippi State (518).

In the East, Tennessee accrued 2,167 points to outpace Florida (1,891), Georgia (1,860), Kentucky (993), Vanderbilt (810), Missouri (807) and South Carolina (800).

The media have correctly predicted the SEC champion only five times since Arkansas and South Carolina were added in 1992: Florida in 1994, 1995 and 2008, LSU in 2007, and Alabama in 2014.

The SEC office did not release the preseason All-SEC teams voted on by the more than 1,200 registered media members in Hoover. Those teams are scheduled to be released today.

No NCAA news

Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said there was no fresh news regarding the NCAA investigation of the school's football program.

The Rebels are under investigation for alleged violations involving former offensive line standout Laremy Tunsil and other issues.

Freeze told reporters he inquired Thursday about a timetable for a resolution of the NCAA infractions case and could not get a concrete answer.

"I have zero update," Freeze told reporters. "Obviously, our response is out to the allegations. It stands on its own, and we can't discuss any ongoing matters.

"That's one of the frustrating things, but out of respect for the process, you can't do it. We can talk about our integrity and we can talk about our core values, but I'm not sure that's what the media wants to talk about. No one wants it to be over more than I do. I'm ready to concentrate on our team continuing to build its relevancy in college football, which we will."

Contact us

In February of 2013 after Ole Miss landed a top-five recruiting class -- which included recent NFL Draft first-rounders Laremy Tunsil, LaQuan Treadwell and Robert Nkemdiche -- some in the South insinuated the Rebels must have cheated to achieve that haul.

At the time, Coach Hugh Freeze suggested via his Twitter account that if people had proof of recruiting violations against Ole Miss that they contact the school's compliance office, and he provided an email address.

"Yeah, sometimes you make decisions that probably aren't the sharpest," Freeze said. "Like I said earlier, I did mean that with sincerity.

"So that tweet was, you know, the intent was, man, let's find out what's going on and look into it. Do I regret doing it? Absolutely."

Being Leonard

LSU running back Leonard Fournette, a preseason favorite for the Heisman Trophy, said he's not one to be out in public much.

"I stay inside," he said. "Anytime I go somewhere, there's pictures, autographs, have to kiss someone's child. There's crazy things that happen. I don't mind because it comes with the territory and I respect it."

Fournette was then asked whether he was cautious about certain areas of Baton Rouge based on the police-involved shooting death two weeks ago of Alton Sterling at the Triple S Food Mart on North Foster Drive.

"Most definitely, but just growing up, that's how we were in New Orleans, you know," Fournette said. "So just keep your head on a swivel man, and the main thing is to stay prayed up each and every day."

Media jab

First-year South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp gave the media a gentle jab during his opening remarks Thursday.

"Not a lot of energy here today on Day Four," Muschamp said as the first coach at the dais at 9 a.m. "You guys look rough. You guys have to pick it up in the fourth quarter."

Hogs sink Rebs

Arkansas' fourth-and-25 conversion in overtime during its 53-52 victory at Ole Miss last year has a flip side. The play prevented the Rebels from playing in their first SEC championship game and allowed Alabama to claim the SEC West, which led to SEC and College Football Playoff championships.

The Rebels at SEC media days were asked about the wild play, on which Hunter Henry caught a pass from Brandon Allen, lateraled wildly while being tackled, and Alex Collins picked up the loose ball and tore around left end for a 29-yard gain.

"I thought we had them on fourth-and-26," quarterback Chad Kelly said. "I don't know, I was about to cheer when he got tackled, but then he threw it around. Stuff happens."

Kelly said he could have performed better on a play in the final minute of regulation that might have reversed the outcome.

"On that third-and-13, if I sit in the pocket a half second longer and hit the under route, LaQuan's running for 30 yards and we probably kick the field goal and win," he said. "That's a deciding factor in the whole season."

Kelly scrambled for 7 yards on the third-and-13 play, then threw incomplete on fourth down with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Defensive tackle D.J. Jones said he's only seen a replay of the fourth-and-25 conversion twice.

"And it was an accident to see it," he said. "I didn't want to see it, but it's a play we need to keep in our brains. It was just the Lord was on their side. To make a play like that, that's one thing you don't see every day. Every other season you might catch something like that. It's a play you've got to forget about."

No flip-flops

LSU Coach Les Miles advised media members to never catch a softball pitcher while wearing flip flops.

Miles was sitting on a large plastic can and wearing flip flops while catching his fast-pitch softball pitching daughter when the ball hit his foot and broke two toes.

Cuba is communist

LSU Coach Les Miles said he visited the island of Cuba while giving a review of his summer itinerary.

"I went to Cuba and Cuba is a communist country, and that was kind of the reason that I went," Miles said.

Miles' family also surprised him with tickets to game 6 of the NBA Finals in Cleveland and he expressed pleasure that the Cavaliers won the NBA championship.

Get ready

Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly nodded his head vigorously when asked whether he had any advice for Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight, a transfer from Oklahoma, about coming into the SEC from another conference.

"He better get ready to get hit and take some shots," said Kelly, who arrived at Ole Miss via junior college after spending two seasons at Clemson.

Kelly and Knight are the only current quarterbacks in college football to have beaten Alabama.

About the finger

South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp was asked to confirm whether he broke a finger at halftime of a game last season while serving as Auburn's defensive coordinator, a story related by Auburn defensive lineman Montravius Adams at media days.

"I get frustrated sometimes," Muschamp said. "As much as anything, I get mad at myself for not better preparing my players. I wear my emotions on my sleeves sometimes.

"I don't remember the situation. I black out sometimes."

Lessons

First-year South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp expressed mock surprise that it took several minutes before he fielded a question about the lessons he learned in four years at Florida before being fired with a 28-21 record.

"I could spend a good deal of time answering that question, but I'll put it in a nutshell," Muschamp said. "We played well on defense over a four-year period. We played well on special teams. For the most part over a four-year period academically, our guys did well.

"I think we recruited very good players. Really it comes back to offense, and that's where from a practice standpoint ... staff, scheme, decision-making, whatever. That falls on my shoulders. I'm taking full responsibility for that, and we're planning to make it better."

Sports on 07/15/2016