Media picks Kentucky to finish No. 4 in SEC East

Add some more juice to the Kentucky-South Carolina rivalry in the SEC East. In a close vote, Shane Beamer‘s Gamecock have just edged out Mark Stoops‘ Wildcats.

The culture vs. climate battle was one of the biggest head-to-head matchups when media members discussed order of finish at SEC Media Days in Nashville this week. After the results were tabulated, only 50 points separated the two SEC East programs.

Let’s take a look at the full results.

SEC East

1. Georgia (265 first-place votes) — 2011 points
2. Tennessee (14 first-place votes) — 1682 points
3. South Carolina (3 first-place votes) — 1254 points
4. Kentucky (1 first-place vote) — 1204 points
5. Florida — 911 points
6. Missouri — 658 points
7. Vanderbilt (8 first-place votes) — 428 points

Who is drinking the Vanderbilt kool-aid? At SEC Media Days, head coach Clark Lea again talked about wanting to build one of the best college football programs in the country at Vanderbilt and that sell job apparently hooked some media members. To no one’s surprise, Georgia is the heavy favorite with Tennessee seen as the Dawgs’ top competition.

SEC West

1. Alabama (165 first-place votes) — 1899 points
2. LSU (117 first-place votes) — 1838 points
3. Texas A&M (1 first-place vote) — 1144 points
4. Ole Miss — 1128 points
5. Arkansas (3 first-place votes) — 958 points
6. Auburn (4 first-place votes) — 685 points
7. Mississippi State (1 first-place vote) — 496 points

Throughout the week in Nashville, there seemed to be a consensus forming that LSU would be the pick to win the SEC West. But when the votes were counted, the Tide edged out the Tigers. Media members are not ready to quit Nick Saban and one of the best rosters in college football. Texas A&M and Ole Miss was a surprising close vote for third-place. Auburn getting four first-place votes is a big surprise.

SEC champions

• Georgia (181 points)
• Alabama (62 points)
• LSU (31 points)
• Tennessee (5 points)
• Vanderbilt (5 points)
• Arkansas (2 points)
• Auburn (2 points)
• Texas A&M (1 point)
• Mississippi State (1 point)
• South Carolina (1 point)

Look at Vanderbilt creating some preseason buzz. We’ll see if it works out for Lea’s third team. Many expect a Georgia vs. Alabama matchup in Atlanta but LSU is seen as the clear No. 3 team in the league entering the 2023 campaign.