FAYETTEVILLE -- Reporters who covered SEC football media days in Atlanta earlier this week aren't expecting much from the Arkansas Razorbacks under first-year Coach Chad Morris.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville was picked to finish seventh and last in the SEC West by media members who cast 284 total ballots.
All-SEC teams
SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS VOTING
Breakdown of ballots from SEC media days, which were held Monday through Thursday in Atlanta, for predicting the order of finish in the conference and three preseason All-SEC teams:
SEC CHAMPION
First-place votes in parentheses
Alabama (193)
Georgia (69)
Auburn (14)
South Carolina (4)
Florida (2)
(tie) Mississippi State (1), Missouri (1)
SEC WEST
POS. SCHOOL (first-place votes);PTS
Alabama (263);1,971
Auburn (19);1,664
Mississippi State (2);1,239
Texas A&M;1,091
LSU;1025
Ole Miss;578
7. Arkansas;412
SEC EAST
POS. SCHOOL (first-place votes);PTS
Georgia (271);1,977
South Carolina (8);1,535
Florida (4);1,441
Missouri;1,057
Kentucky (1);874
Tennessee (1);704
Vanderbilt;392
PRESEASON ALL-SEC TEAM
OFFENSE
First team
QB;Drew Lock;Missouri
RB;Damien Harris;Alabama
RB;Benny Snell Jr.;Kentucky
WR;A.J. Brown;Ole Miss
WR;Deebo Samuel;South Carolina
TE;Albert Okwuegbunam;Missouri
OL;Jonah Williams;Alabama
OL;Greg Little;Ole Miss
OL;Martez Ivey;Florida
OL;Trey Smith;Tennessee
C;Ross Pierschbacher;Alabama
Second team
QB;Jarrett Stidham;Auburn
RB;D'Andre Swift;Georgia
RB;Trayveon Williams;Texas A&M
WR;Terry Godwin;Georgia
WR;Ryan Davis;Auburn
TE;Isaac Nauta;Georgia
OL;Andrew Thomas;Georgia
OL;Lester Cotton; Alabama
OL;Hjalte Froholdt;Arkansas
OL;Garrett Brumfield;LSU
C;Lamont Gaillard;Georgia
Third team
*QB;Nick Fitzgerald;Mississippi State
*QB;Jake Fromm;Georgia
RB;Aeris Williams;Mississippi State
RB;Jordan Scarlett;Florida
WR;Jerry Jeudy;Alabama
WR;Emanuel Hall;Missouri
TE;C.J. Conrad;Kentucky
OL;Matt Womack;Alabama
OL;Zack Bailey;South Carolina
OL;Javon Patterson;Ole Miss
OL;Marquel Harrell;Auburn
C;Erik McCoy;Texas A&M
DEFENSE
First team
DL;Raekwon Davis;Alabama
DL;Cece Jefferson;Florida
DL;Montez Sweat;Mississippi State
DL;Jeffery Simmons;Mississippi State
LB;Devin White;LSU
LB;Anfernee Jennings;Alabama
LB;Mack Wilson;Alabama
DB;Deandre Baker;Georgia
DB;Greedy Williams;LSU
DB;J.R. Reed;Georgia
DB;Deionte Thompson;Alabama
Second team
DL;Jonathan Ledbetter;Georgia
DL;Terry Beckner;Missouri
DL;Derrick Brown;Auburn
DL;Isaiah Buggs;Alabama
LB;Josh Allen;Kentucky
LB;Deshaun Davis;Auburn
LB;D'Andre Walker;Georgia
DB;Mike Edwards;Kentucky
DB;Chauncey Gardner-Johnson;Florida
DB;Jamel Dean;Auburn
DB;CJ Henderson;Florida
Third team
DL;Dontavius Russell;Auburn
DL;Rashard Lawrence;LSU
DL Marlon Davidson, Auburn
*DL;Kingsley Keke;Texas A&M
*DL;Landis Durham;Texas A&M
LB;Dylan Moses;Alabama
LB;David Reese;Florida
LB;De'Jon Harris;Arkansas
DB;Mark McLaurin;Mississippi State
DB;Marco Wilson;Florida
DB;Javaris Davis;Auburn
DB;Santos Ramirez;Arkansas
SPECIALISTS
First team
P;Corey Fatony;Missouri
PK;Rodrigo Blankenship;Georgia
RS;Deebo Samuel;South Carolina
AP;Deebo Samuel;South Carolina
Second team
P;Joseph Charlton;South Carolina
PK;Daniel LaCamera;Texas A&M
RS;Mecole Hardman;Georgia
AP;Trevon Diggs;Alabama
Third team
P;Zach Von Rosenberg;LSU
PK;Tucker McCann;Missouri
RS;Trevon Diggs;Alabama
AP;Kadarius Toney;Florida
*Indicates tie
NOTE
• RS under specialists stands for return specialist. AP stands for all purpose.
• Since 2000, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden is the only unanimous selection to the SEC media days first team at his position, collecting all possible votes that year.
• Since 1992, the most players on a first team were 10 by Alabama in 2017.
Arkansas has been picked last in the West in several other preseason polls.
"It kind of rubs us the wrong way, but I expect that, especially coming from a 4-8 season," Razorbacks senior safety Santos Ramirez said Tuesday when Arkansas appeared at media days. "People are going to see that, outside looking in.
"But we know the talent we have inside that room. We know what we're capable of. We can really make a run in the SEC West. We can really compete. Last year, we could have done a better job with finishing, and it would have kept us in a lot more ballgames.
"That really became second nature for us this offseason. That's kudos to Coach Morris and the type of mentality that he brought to us."
Arkansas senior guard Hjalte Froholdt was voted to the All-SEC second-team offense, and Ramirez and junior linebacker De'Jon Harris were voted to the third-team defense.
Alabama was an overwhelming choice to win the SEC overall and West titles. Georgia received even more votes to win the East than Alabama did to win the West -- 271 to 263 -- but the Crimson Tide got 193 votes for the SEC title.
Only six times in 26 previous years since the SEC expanded to divisions in 1992 has the media accurately picked the conference's overall champion with Florida in 1994 and 1995, LSU in 2007, Florida in 2008, and Alabama in 2014 and 2017.
The biggest miss by the media came in 2015 when Auburn was picked to win the SEC championship and finished seventh in the West.
If the media turns out to be right about the division championships this year, the SEC Championship Game will be a rematch of last year's national title game when Alabama beat Georgia 26-23 in overtime.
Former running back Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove) remains the only SEC player since 2000 to be a unanimous first-team selection at his position. He received every vote at media days going into his final season with the Razorbacks in 2007.
Sports on 07/21/2018