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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Tigers open the season on Saturday, September 2nd, hosting the Missouri State Bears.
