SEC Football Media Days in Hoover, Alabama is over, but not before the media in attendance voted on their predicted order of finish for the 2017 football season. Â The Missouri Tigers, entering their second season under Head Coach Barry Odom, are picked to finish last in the SEC’s Eastern Division, with only 388 points and no first-place votes. Â Mizzou, along with sixth-place Vanderbilt (554 points) and fifth place Kentucky (869) are the only three schools in the east without a first-place vote.
Fourth-place South Carolina had five first-place votes and 897 points, while Tennessee, in the third slot, had three first-place tallies and 998 points. The Georgia Bulldogs, with 138 first-place votes, edged rival Georgia for the top spot, as the Bulldogs amassed 1572 points. Â The Gators had 96 first-place votes and 1526 points.
Points were awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale.
Using the same voting method in the SEC West, Nick Saban’s powerhouse from Alabama won pre-season favorite honors, with 225 first-place votes and 1683 points. Â Auburn is second, with 13 first-place votes at 1329 points, followed by LSU (4/1262), Arkansas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.
Alabama was chosen as the favorite to win the SEC Championship over Florida, in the first-ever conference championship game to be played in Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in December.
Missouri’s schedule is particularly difficult this year, with the Tigers hosting the Auburn Tigers in the rotating ‘cross-over’ matchup, and playing at Arkansas the day after Thanksgiving. Â The Tigers travel to Georgia, and host Florida and Tennessee, in their marquee divisional games.
Mizzou wide receiver J’Mon Moore was named All-SEC preseason second team, while senior defensive end Marcell Frazier was named to the third team. Â The Tigers open the season on Saturday, September 2nd, hosting the Missouri State Bears.