C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
I actually got a vote this year from the SEC and got to put in my two cents worth for how things shake out.
For starters, here's my predicted order of finish, which had South Carolina two spots higher than their preseason prediction.
Predicted order of finish
1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. LSU
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. South Carolina
7. Arkansas
8. Ole Miss
9. Auburn
10. Texas A&M
11. Missouri
12. Mississippi State
13. Georgia
14. Vanderbilt
I think there's a few different tiers this year in the SEC.
The great teams: Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and Florida
The good teams: Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas Ole Miss
The teams that can surprise some people: Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri
The bad teams: Mississippi State, Georgia, Vanderbilt
I think the Gamecocks are going to be pretty good and have a chance to be a better team than Alabama and Arkansas. Alabama needs to be better on defense and Arkansas is going to be a pretty young team. I think South Carolina, returning four starters, will be good and has a chance to be a top four or five team in the SEC but needs to prove to me they can rebound at a high level. Alabama, with John Petty Jr. and Herb Jones got the tie breaker there because of that.
South Carolina is pretty used to having most media members not put them very high in the preseason polls, but there's a belief in the program this could be a very good team, especially in SEC play. Since Frank Martin took over, the Gamecocks have outperformed preseason predictions six times. They met preseason predicitions once and finished below once, in Martin's second year.
The last time they were projected to finish eighth in the league? That would be the 2016-17 season that ended with a trip to the Final Four.
Auburn has talent but they lost about everything off that NCAA Tournament team last season, and I'm not sure where the love for the Tigers comes from at least in the preseason. Texas A&M and Missouri might not have enough veterans and talent to make a jump into the middle of the pack.
Mississippi State lost Reggie Perry, Robert Woodard, Tyson Carter and the final Weatherspoon brother, Nick, and the Bulldogs aren't going to be as good this year.
SEC Player of the Year: Keyontae Johnson, Florida
All-SEC Team
1. Keyontae Johnson, Florida
2. John Fulkerson, Tennessee
3. Trendon Watford, LSU
4. John Petty Jr., Alabama
5. Brandon Boston Jr., Kentucky
My SEC team and Player of the Year was identical to the official conference one, and I don't think it's particularly close. Those are the best five players in the league this year.
I will say this: I wrestled with the idea of taking Boston off (since he was a freshman) and putting Jermaine Couisnard there. If there's going to be an All-SEC guard on this team currently, my guess is it'll be Couisnard. I think he's primed for a pretty big 2020-21 season.
In all, the All-SEC teams are nothing unexpected.
For starters, here's my predicted order of finish, which had South Carolina two spots higher than their preseason prediction.
Predicted order of finish
1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. LSU
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. South Carolina
7. Arkansas
8. Ole Miss
9. Auburn
10. Texas A&M
11. Missouri
12. Mississippi State
13. Georgia
14. Vanderbilt
I think there's a few different tiers this year in the SEC.
The great teams: Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and Florida
The good teams: Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas Ole Miss
The teams that can surprise some people: Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri
The bad teams: Mississippi State, Georgia, Vanderbilt
I think the Gamecocks are going to be pretty good and have a chance to be a better team than Alabama and Arkansas. Alabama needs to be better on defense and Arkansas is going to be a pretty young team. I think South Carolina, returning four starters, will be good and has a chance to be a top four or five team in the SEC but needs to prove to me they can rebound at a high level. Alabama, with John Petty Jr. and Herb Jones got the tie breaker there because of that.
South Carolina is pretty used to having most media members not put them very high in the preseason polls, but there's a belief in the program this could be a very good team, especially in SEC play. Since Frank Martin took over, the Gamecocks have outperformed preseason predictions six times. They met preseason predicitions once and finished below once, in Martin's second year.
The last time they were projected to finish eighth in the league? That would be the 2016-17 season that ended with a trip to the Final Four.
Auburn has talent but they lost about everything off that NCAA Tournament team last season, and I'm not sure where the love for the Tigers comes from at least in the preseason. Texas A&M and Missouri might not have enough veterans and talent to make a jump into the middle of the pack.
Mississippi State lost Reggie Perry, Robert Woodard, Tyson Carter and the final Weatherspoon brother, Nick, and the Bulldogs aren't going to be as good this year.
SEC Player of the Year: Keyontae Johnson, Florida
All-SEC Team
1. Keyontae Johnson, Florida
2. John Fulkerson, Tennessee
3. Trendon Watford, LSU
4. John Petty Jr., Alabama
5. Brandon Boston Jr., Kentucky
My SEC team and Player of the Year was identical to the official conference one, and I don't think it's particularly close. Those are the best five players in the league this year.
I will say this: I wrestled with the idea of taking Boston off (since he was a freshman) and putting Jermaine Couisnard there. If there's going to be an All-SEC guard on this team currently, my guess is it'll be Couisnard. I think he's primed for a pretty big 2020-21 season.
In all, the All-SEC teams are nothing unexpected.
