The picks are in.
The Tennessee Volunteers have been picked for finish 7th in the Southeastern Conference this football season by the media, which gathered in Dallas this week for the annual SEC Media Days event. This season’s poll was the first ever to feature 16 teams, following the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the conference.
Georgia was picked to win the SEC once again, while newcomer Texas checked in at No. 2. The Bulldogs received 165 first place votes in the poll. Texas received 27. Alabama, picked to finish third in the league in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, received 12 votes to win the conference. Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri were the other three teams projected to finish ahead of Tennessee.
The SEC will look quite a bit different this year with the top two teams heading to Atlanta. Divisions are gone, which is going to give us some potential matchups in the SEC Championship that we aren’t used to seeing.
Tennessee has not appeared in an SEC Championship game since 2007.
The Volunteers will play five of the bottom six in the media poll this season, which is a huge win in such a competitive conference. Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt are each near the bottom of the media poll, perhaps leaving Tennessee with games against Alabama, at Georgia and at Oklahoma to determine their fate in conference play.
View the full poll below.
2024 SEC PRESEASON POLL
1. Georgia (165): 3,330 points
2. Texas (27): 3,041
3. Alabama (12): 2,891
4. Ole Miss (4): 2,783
5. LSU (2): 2,322
6. Missouri: 2,240
7. Tennessee: 2,168
8. Oklahoma: 2,022
9. Texas A&M: 1,684
10. Auburn: 1,382
11. Kentucky: 1,371
12. Florida: 1,146
13. South Carolina (1): 923
14. Arkansas: 749
15. Mississippi State: 623
16. Vanderbilt (2): 293