Alabama Is Overwhelming Media Pick To Win SEC Title, Beating Georgia By 140 Votes

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The Alabama Crimson Tide football team was predicted to win its third straight Southeastern Conference championship. This was according to a preseason poll of nearly 1,000 reporters covering the SEC Media Days over the last week in Atlanta. Alabama received 158 votes; Georgia got 18.

Bama beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game last season, but lost to the Bulldogs in the national championship game.

The Crimson Tide was picked to win the SEC Western Division with 1,262 total points, followed by Texas A&M with 968 and three first place votes and Arkansas with 844 and one first place vote. Alabama received 177 first-place votes, or all but four. Ole Miss was picked to finish fourth, followed by LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn.

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Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. (Getty Images)

Georgia was selected to win the SEC East Division with 1,254 points, including 172 first-place votes. Kentucky was second with 932 points and four first place votes.

Tennessee was third with 929 points and one first place vote. South Carolina, strangely, received three first place votes, but was voted to finish fifth in the East behind Florida.

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Vanderbilt, amazingly, also got a first-place vote despite finishing higher than fourth one time (2008) since the SEC went to divisions in 1992. Points were awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale. Missouri was picked to finish sixth and Vanderbilt seventh.

Only nine times since 1992 has the predicted champion prior to the season at SEC Media Days proceeded to win the SEC Championship Game, which includes the last two consecutive seasons by Bama.

Media also voted on the pre-season All-SEC team with Alabama leading the way there as well with 19 selections:

2022 PRESEASON MEDIA DAYS ALL-SEC TEAM

OFFENSE

First-Team

QB – Bryce Young, Alabama

RB -  Tank Bigsby, Auburn

RB – Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama 

WR - Kayshon Boutte, LSU 

WR - Jermaine Burton, Alabama 

TE - Brock Bowers, Georgia 

OL - Emil Ekiyor Jr., Alabama 

OL -  Warren McClendon, Georgia

OL -  O'Cyrus Torrence, Florida

OL -  Nick Broeker, Ole Miss

C -  Ricky Stromberg, Arkansas

Second Team

QB – Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

RB -    Chris Rodriguez Jr., Kentucky

RB -   Devon Achane, Texas A&M

WR - Cedric Tillman, Tennessee

WR - Jonathan Mingo, Ole Miss

TE - Cameron Latu, Alabama  

OL -  Layden Robinson, Texas A&M

OL -  Kenneth Horsey, Kentucky 

OL -  Darnell Wright, Tennessee

OL -  Javion Cohen, Alabama

C -  Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia

Third Team

QB – Will Levis, Kentucky

RB - Zach Evans, Ole Miss

RB - Kenny McIntosh, Georgia

WR - Ainias Smith, Texas A&M

WR - Josh Vann, South Carolina  

TE -  Jaheim Bell, South Carolina

OL -  Brady Latham, Arkansas

OL -  Tyler Steen, Alabama

OL -  Javon Foster, Missouri  

*OL - Jeremy James, Ole Miss

*OL – Kendall Randolph, Alabama

C - Cooper Mays, Tennessee

DEFENSE

First Team

DL - Jalen Carter, Georgia

DL - BJ Ojulari, LSU 

DL - Derick Hall, Auburn 

DL - Byron Young, Tennessee

LB -  Will Anderson Jr., Alabama

LB -  Nolan Smith, Georgia

LB - Henry To'oTo'o, Alabama 

DB - Jordan Battle, Alabama 

DB -  Kelee Ringo, Georgia

DB -  Eli Ricks, Alabama

DB -  Jalen Catalon, Arkansas

Second Team

DL - Zacch Pickens, South Carolina

DL - D.J. Dale, Alabama

DL - Ali Gaye, LSU

DL - Colby Wooden, Auburn 

LB - Bumper Pool, Arkansas 

LB - Dallas Turner, Alabama 

LB - Brenton Cox Jr., Florida

DB – Cam Smith, South Carolina 

DB - Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M 

DB - Christopher Smith, Georgia 

DB - Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State 

Third Team

DL  - Gervon Dexter, Florida

DL -  Justin Eboigbe, Alabama

DL - Maason Smith, LSU 

DL - McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M

LB - Owen Pappoe, Auburn 

LB - Ventrell Miller, Florida   

LB - Jeremy Banks, Tennessee

DB - Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama

DB - Trey Dean III, Florida

DB - Trevon Flowers, Tennessee 

DB - Malachi Moore, Alabama 

SPECIALISTS

First Team

P -  Nik Constantinou, Texas A&M

PK -  Will Reichard, Alabama

RS  -  Kearis Jackson, Georgia

AP - Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama 

Second Team

P -  Oscar Chapman, Auburn

PK - Anders Carlson, Auburn  

RS - Ainias Smith, Texas A&M 

AP - Devon Achane, Texas A&M

Third Team

P - Paxton Brooks, Tennessee 

PK - Harrison Mevis, Missouri 

RS - JoJo Earle, Alabama  

AP - Ainias Smith, Texas A&M

* - Indicates a tie

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.